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Dodgeville-Mineral Point qualified their entire team and three individuals for the 47th Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association Gymnastics State Championships and River Valley will send one individual to the event.
Competition will take place Friday and Saturday (March 3-4) at Wisconsin Rapids Lincoln High School in Wisconsin Rapids. The team championships will begin Friday at 2 p.m. The individual competition will begin at 11:10 a.m. Saturday. Ticket prices for the championships are $6 per session and are available at the door.
Ten teams will compete for the Division 1 and Division 2 team titles. The top two teams from each of the five sectionals in each division qualified for the meet. The top five individuals in each event and the top five All-Arounds at each sectional qualify for the State Individual Championships.
This is Dodgeville/Mineral Point's second straight trip as a team and last year's team was the first in the co-op's history to achieve that.
Also competing as individuals for the Dodge-Pointers are Miah Lemanski, Alyssa Belling and Tessa Bockhop.
What an incredible journey we've been on this year," said DMP coach Julie Oellerich.
And it's one that's not over yet.
"We knew from the beginning that this team was capable of great things but they've continued to exceed our expectations," Oellerich said.
"The team achieved both of the goals they set this year of becoming the Conference champs and the Sectional champs for the first time in our program's history. We are also lucky enough to have three of our varsity gymnasts continuing on to the individual competition," she said.
"Miah Lemanski had a phenomenal meet, placing third on floor, receiving the title of sectional champ on vault and in the All-Around competition, and tying for the sectional beam champ title," said Oellerich.
"Tessa Bockhop placed fifth in the All-Around competition and secured the title of bars champ with a full point lead over the competition. Alyssa Belling will be making her second apparence at individual state after she placed fifth on beam and tied for fouth on bars," the coach said.
"This team's success has been so exciting. They've continued to work hard and push themselves throughout the season, always trying to better themselves and contribute more to the team. We are so proud of how far they've come as a team and as individuals," Oellerich said.
River Valley coach Julie Kuhse was happy with getting and individual to state and also with the way the Blackhawks competed all season.
Caroline Iausly qualified fifth on vault, third on beam, second on floor, and third all-around.
"She will also compete on bars but can't place, just on the other events and All-Around," Kuhse said..
"The energy in the gym was very relaxed all evening, which helped all competitors," said Kuhse. "As a team we were going for personal bests and no fall routines. The scoring was very tight, and even though some of the girls hit their best routines of the season, their scores did not reflect that. We noticed low scoring especially on floor and beam."
"We had a great rotation, starting on bars. The girls do not get uptight on this event, and they performed well. Andrea Tennis was able to come back from her injury to compete her routine without doing her dismount. If she had, she could have been in the top scores," Kuhse said.
"Our next event was beam, which was an exciting event for us as Braejah Weeden added new skill combinations and Caroline was back in the lineup. Courtney Heath had one of her higher scores of the season. Caroline had a spectacular routine, doing her tumbling skills for the first time in a month, since her injury. Even with one fall, she still scored 8.75 to qualify in third place. We are looking forward to seeing her stick it at state," Kuhse said..
"Caroline had also not tumbled on floor in a month but came back strong and scored 9.175 for second place to qualify," Kuhse added. "We have some minor things to improve on for state, but she looks amazing even after the break. Lexi competed her final routine of her high school career with her third highest score of the season. She has been making great strides in her routines since coming back from her injury. She has been working very hard and her competitions have been very consistent."
"We finished the rotation on vault. We have a team of young vaulters: freshman Megan Feick, Kenzie Fruit, and Lily Hein. They all had their personal bests on vault this meet. We focused a lot on vault this week and their improvements were rewarded," Kuhse said. "Caroline had to perform a different vault for his meet due to practice time since her injury, but it was still enough to qualify in fifth place. Braejah Weeden competed the vault lineup, also scoring a personal best."
"There was a diversity on the podium this year, not a total domination from one or two teams. It will be a well-rounded representation at state." commented Kuhse.
Kuhse also gave a wrap-up of the season for the Blackhawks.
"I can't say enough about the team's dedication, and flexibility to adjust to the scenarios we've had to handle this season," she said. "They've competed events they haven't been comfortable with. The lineups changed at a moment's notice and they always rolled with it. The amazing group of upper classmen - Adeline, Denae, and Lexi - really helped guide the freshman - Megan, Lily, Kenzie, and Ana - it's remarkable to see how far they have come in such a short time. Although Denae has not been able to compete this season, she has had such an influence on the team for skills, routines, motivation. Courtney became a leader. Caroline was the driving force and example to others. Andrea and Braejah have been a solid base for our team all season. We didn't have a strictly "JV" or "Varsity" team. They were simply and foremost "Our Team."
SECTIONAL TEAM SCORES
1-Dodgevlle/MP 132.3750
2-Viroqua Co-op 128.4500
3-Baraboo 126.7500
4-Sauk-Prairie 123.7250
5-River Valley 114.0000
6-Reedsburg 111.7250
7-Westby Area 111.3500
8-PdC/Fennimore 107.3500
Vaulting
DMP
1-Miah Lemanski 9.000
5-Caroline Iausly 8.500
8-Alyssa Belling 8.375
10-Kaitlyn Yingst 8.250
35-Elle Honerbaum 7.800
RV
5-Caroline Iausly 8.500
25-Lily Hein 7.950
25-Braejah Weeden 7.950
29-Mackenzie Fruit 7.900
39-Courtney Heath 7.500
Uneven Bars
1-Tessa Bockhop 8.950
4-Alyssa Belling 7.850
9-Miah Lemanski 7.450
10-Elle Honerbaum 7.350
12-Sasha Paiva 7.150
RV
8-Caroline Iausly 7.650
18-Andrea Tennis 6.600
29-Mackenzie Fruit 5.450
30-Alexis Nabbefeld 5.350
38-Courtney Heath 4.450
Balance Beam
DMP
2-Miah Lemanski 8.950
5-Alyssa Belling 8.450
6-Tessa Bockhop 8.300
20-Elle Honerbaum 7.125
25-Lily McDonald 6.800
RV
3-Caroline Iausly 8.750
25-Braejah Weeden 6.800
30-Courtney Heath 6.600
35-Ana Andreeva 5.950
38-Adeline Amble 4.750
Floor Exercise
DMP
3-Miah Lemanski 9.125
7-Alyssa Belling 8.675
12-Elle Honerbaum 8.150
13-Tessa Bockhop 8.125
16-Kaitlyn Yingst 7.850
RV
2-Caroline Iausly 9.175
29-Courtney Heath 7.125
36-Braejah Weeden 6.200
37-Alexis Nabbefeld 6.050
38-Mackenzie Fruit 6.000
All-Around
DMP
1-Miah Lemanski 34.525
5-Tessa Bockhop 33.625
7-Alyssa Belling 33.350
13-Elle Honerbaum 30.425
River Valley
3-Caroline Iausly 34.075
23-Courtney Heath 25.675