WIAA Division 2 state gymnastics championship preview
What: The 52nd WIAA state gymnastics championships.
Where: Lincoln High School, Wisconsin Rapids.
When: For the second straight year, team and individual competition will be held in the same session, which is set for 1 p.m. on Friday, March 4.
Who: The Medford Raiders have qualifi ed for state team competition for the fourth straight year and have won their sectional for the third straight season. This year, the team is considered a co-op with Colby. Medford also had a team in the 1972 state meet.
In last year’s Division 2 meet, held in La Crosse, the Raiders finished sixth out of eight teams with a team score of 134.75. The Raiders were fifth out of 10 teams in 2020 with a team score of 134.901.
Division 2 team qualifiers: Sectional champions and their sectional team scores include Mount Horeb (143.1), Sparta (141.9) Whitefish Bay (141.775), Medford (134.925) and Reedsburg (134.625). Sectional runners-up and their sectional team scores include the West Salem Coop (139.775), Nicolet (136.925), Elkhorn (136.325), the Dodgeville Co-op (134.6) and Antigo (132.525).
Whitefish Bay is the four-time defending champion and has won the most team championships in WIAA history with 11, excluding two titles it won in a co-op with Shorewood. Mount Horeb is making its 35th team appearance at state. It’s the 27th for Whitefish Bay, 21st for Nicolet and the 15th for Antigo.
Whitefish Bay won last year’s state title with 146.575 points, while Mount Horeb was second with 144.025 and Nicolet was third with 142.4. Sparta was fifth with 138.9 points.
Division 2 notebook (compiled by the WIAA): There are no returning champions from last season’s state championships seeking a repeat title this year. There are five gymnasts that have qualified in the all-around competition this season after placing in the top 10 at state last year. The highest returning finisher is junior Ella Hemker of Sparta, who placed third. Junior Cassi Hansen of Nicolet returns after placing fifth. Senior Kate Graham of Whitefish Bay was sixth, junior Savannah Clark of Sparta was seventh and junior Lily Wiegand of Sparta was 10th. The top all-arounds at the five qualifying sectionals include Hemker, junior Kate Malchow of Medford-Colby, senior Sydney Stoenner of Mount Horeb, sophomore Morgan Siekert of the Viroqua Co-op and Anneh Britz of Whitefish Bay.
Among the qualifiers in the vault competition, there are six gymnasts that placed in the top 10 a year ago, including Hemker, who was runner-up. Her team- mates, Wiegand and Clark, also landed in the top 10 with a tie for third and ninthplace finish, respectively, in 2021. Senior Elizabeth Lockhart of Elkhorn was fifth last year in the vault, while sophomore Kyla Krause of Medford-Colby and Hansen were eighth and 10th, respectively. Those fresh off winning sectional titles expecting to contend for the vault title are Wiegand, Krause, Stoenner, senior Elsa Nelson of the Dodgeville Co-op and sophomore Mikayla Cibulka of West Bend West.
Five of this year’s qualifiers in the uneven bars placed within the top 10 at last year’s championships. Hansen is the top returner after placing third a year ago. Hemker finish seventh, Graham placed eighth, sophomore Emily Craker of Reedsburg was ninth and senior Makala Ulrich of Medford-Colby was 10th. Other contenders for the title in uneven bars include the champions at each of the five sectionals, including Malchow, Britz, junior Brooke Von Glahn of the Platteville Co-op, junior Tanya Michlig of the West Salem Co-op and junior Gabby Dixon of Elkhorn.
The balance beam appears loaded with state-experienced competitors as seven of the top 10 individuals from last year return for another shot at the crown. Britz and Hansen finished in a tie for third last year to lead the group of returners. Clark placed in a tie for fifth, and Wiegand came in seventh, followed by Graham, senior Catie McPherson of the Ashland Co-op and sophomore Brooklyn Murphy of the Dodgeville Coop at eighth, ninth and 10th, respectively. Sectional champs vying for the balance beam championship are Hemker, Murphy, Orth, Malchow and sophomore Violet Statz of Mount Horeb.
Hemker highlights the list of returning gymnasts in the floor exercise after placing fourth at state last year. Graham finished right behind her in fifth place and Stoenner was sixth. Senior Kaley Zarda of Antigo tied for eighth, and senior Ella Peterson of Mount Horeb was 10th. If the top floor exercise routines at sectionals are any indication of who may be among the leaderboard at state, the five champions at sectionals were Hemker, Ulrich, Britz, Craker, Stoenner and sophomore Jenna Heindselman of Elkhorn.
Friday’s schedule: There will be 13 rounds of competition during Friday’s Division 2 competition. Medford will compete on vault in round one, on the uneven bars in round four, on the balance beam in round seven and on the floor exercise in round 11.
––Sports Editor Matt Frey
