Red Robin gymnasts finish third among state's best March 9, 2009 Antigo’s gymnasts saved their best for last.
Already having earned a Wisconsin Valley Conference championship, a victory at sectionals and the school’s sixth straight trip to the WIAA state title series, the Red Robins posted its highest team score of the entire 2008-09 campaign on Saturday to finish at number three in the state.
Add to that a Friday night win by Miranda Ojala on the floor exercise and this has certainly been a season to remember.
“This was a huge honor for us,” coach Christina Berens said.
Comparing season scores alone, the defending Division II champions were a long-shot from defending their title and most prognostications saw the Robins finish in the middle of the pack of the 10-team race, making its third place effort even more special.
“We are extremely satisified in how we placed,” co-coach Julie Langseth added. “The girls did their best and knew what they needed to do.”
As expected, favorites Whitefish Bay and River Falls claimed the top two spots — the Blue Dukes taking the title with a score of 141.76. The Wildcats were second at 141.65 followed by Antigo at 139.41.
“Coming in as the defending champions, the girls didn’t let the pressure get to them,” Berens said.
Starting off on vault, the Robins posted a combined score of 35.8. Led by Ojala’s 9.3, Jenna Kegler’s 8.9 and Brei Schneider’s 8.8, the score was just a smidgen short of Whitefish Bay and eventual rotation winner River Falls.
But it was Antigo’s performance on beam which really set the tone.
Nearly flawless, the five-woman crew of Kegler, Ojala, Schneider, Chelsey Spaeth and Sammy Stimac posted a team score of 34.41. Following a less than successful effort by River Falls (33.33), Antigo knew it was in the hunt for the top.
“We knew going into the third rotation that we had a shot,” Berens said, adding congratulations to Spaeth for her best effort all season.
Although putting in a respectable effort on uneven parallel bars with no extra swings, the Robins finished fourth overall on the event with a score of 33.43.
“The girls did well but we’ll have to up our skills next year,” Langseth said.
Finishing with floor exercise — Antigo’s best event — the squad posted a score of 35.76, falling just short to Whitefish (35.96) and River Falls (36.48.)
Scoring a 9.517 to win the state championship on Friday, Ojala beat that mark with a 9.533 — the day’s best score — to once again lead the team.
Overall, Kegler’s best event was vault (8.9) while Schneider earned her highest mark on floor (8.9). Stimac posted an 8.7 on vault, Spaeth earned an 8.4 on beam, Rylee Bricko scored an 8.6 on vault and Caitlyn Fleischman received an 8.3 on floor.
Kegler and Schneider, along with Ojala and Stimac, also represented Antigo in Friday’s individual championships.
Kegler, a four-time state qualifier, participated on all four events plus the all-around. In the individual title race, she was seventh on beam, 10th on both vault and bars and 20th on floor. Schneider advanced to the individual championships on floor, taking 19th overall.
“These seniors have done so much,” Berens said. “They have been great leaders all season and left Saturday with no regrets.”
“They led by example and set the tone,” Langseth added.
WIAA 2009 State Gymnastics Meet
Wisconsin Rapids
Division 2 -Team Results
1. Whitefish Bay, 141.76; 2. River Falls, 141.65; 3. Antigo, 139.41; 4. West Salem/Aquinas, 138.68; 5. Milton, 136.08; 6. Ashland, 135.33; 7. Southwestern/Cuba City, 134.86; 8. Viroqua/Cashton/DeSoto/North Crawford, 130.13; 9. Port Washington, 124.65; 10. Gale Ettrick Trempeleau/ Cochrane-Fountain City/ Melrose-Mindoro, 124.01.
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