AFA Women's Gymanstics
10/3/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Gymnastics
Oct. 3, 2003
The women's gymnastics team enters its fifth year with Lisa Woody at the helm. Woody has brought her special talents and strengths to the USAFA women's gymnastics team and the results are truly outstanding. Woody is committed to a positive learning environment and is professionally involved with the sport of collegiate women's gymnastics by being an active member of three different organizations that promote the sport's interests. The Falcons are coming off an incredibly successful 2002-03 season and looking forward to having a great 2003-04 competitive season as well. Last season, the Falcons accomplished many remarkable feats, including breaking several AFA records with about half as many team members as many NCAA teams usually carry on their rosters.
2003 MPSF Conference: Woody guided the team to a fourth-place finish at the conference championships. Four team members were recognized as academic all-Conference, two team members were chosen as MPSF Gymnast of the Week and four AFA individuals received top competitive honors at the conference championships.
2003 NCAA Regional Championships: 2003 was the fourth consecutive year that AFA had either qualified individuals or the team to this NCAA Regional Championship! 2003 USAG Collegiate National Championships: The team competed extremely well at the USAG Collegiate National Championships and finished second. Seven individuals garnered all-American status including two in the all-around, two on balance beam with team captain C1C Allison Todd successfully defending her national title on this event and two on floor. Four individuals were also recognized for their academic achievements with the Scholar-Athlete award. As a collegiate gymnastics competitor for Texas Woman's University from 1987-1991, Woody was voted team captain, competed in four Division II national gymnastics championships and held the university's individual all-around record. After graduating with her B.S. degree in community health education with a minor in business administration, she then went on to pursue her M.S. degree in kinesiology at the University of North Texas while volunteering her coaching talents for TWU. After graduating from UNT in 1994, Lisa began her PhD coursework at TWU and began a three-year stint as the women's gymnastics team assistant coach. Woody then moved on to take on the head coaching responsibilities at Radford University in Virginia where she brought that team to a second-place finish in the Virginia Collegiate Championships with individual gymnasts placing first and second in the all-around. The Radford team also made its first ever appearance at the USAG Collegiate National Championships, placing fifth, just missing the team finals by a little more than three-tenths of a point.
In her first year at AFA, Woody led the Falcons in breaking 11 AFA long standing school records, qualified four individuals to the NCAA Regional Championships and coached the team to a first-time appearance in the team finals at the USAG Collegiate National Championships. The Falcons placed second in the team standings for another Academy first and had 14 all-Americans including the individual all-Around champion. Her peers at the USAG Collegiate Nationals named Woody "Assistant Coach of the Year". In her second year at AFA, Woody moved into the head-coaching role and had yet another spectacular year with the Falcons. The 2000-01 season saw the following accomplishments for the women's gymnastics program: the team broke seven more AFA records and qualified as a team to NCAA Regional Championships for the first time in the history of USAFA. Woody was named "Head Coach of the Year" by her peers for the NCAA Region, they won the team championship for the USAG Collegiate Nationals for another first for the gymnastics program at AFA and 11 individual all-Americans including the balance beam champion. Woody was named "Head Coach of the Year" by her peers at the 2001 USAG Nationals and the Falcons were named as an academic all-American team. The 2001-02 season was an unbelievably successful competitive year as well as the team competed in the first Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Conference Championships (MPSF) hosted by AFA. The team placed second, which was an extraordinary feat, along with some individual highlights including taking second and third in the individual all-around. AFA Falcons took first and second on balance beam and first on bars. The team also qualified for the second-straight year to the NCAA Regional Championships hosted by the University of Denver. Accomplishing their team goal of improving upon last year's results, the Falcons were very happy with a score of 193.775 and a fifth-place finish as well as having an AFA gymnast finishing the meet sixth [39.050] in the all-around. With just one day of rest from NCAA Regionals, the team traveled to Springfield, Mass., and won its second-consecutive National Women's Team Title with a championship-record 194.150 at the USA Gymnastics Collegiate National Championships hosted by Springfield College. In addition, AFA garnered 14 individual all-American awards---including four individual champions. Air Force had the most individual all-Americans from any of the institutions competing at the championships.
Air Force claimed the individual all-around title shared by two AFA gymnasts who tied for first with a score of 38.775 followed by AFA gymnasts at fourth and sixth place. On vault, the Falcons gained all-American status by placing fourth and another AFA took home the first-place championship on this event. On bars, Air Force had two individuals gain all-American status as well as holding on to the balance beam championship title along with another individual finishing with all-American status. AFA had four competitors who competed in the floor finals and finished in second, third, fifth and sixth to gain all-American status.
Woody lives in Colorado Springs and enjoys teaching scuba and water survival courses as well as enjoying being with friends, outdoor activities and cooking.
