State Gymnastics Championships Preview
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State Gymnastics Championships Preview

Tuesday, February 26, 2019

State Gymnastics Championships Preview

THE CHAMPIONSHIPS:  The 49th Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association Gymnastics State Championships will take place Friday and Saturday, March 1-2, at Wisconsin Rapids Lincoln High School in Wisconsin Rapids, Wis. The team championships will begin Friday at 2 p.m. The individual competition will begin at 11:30 a.m. Saturday. Ticket prices for the championships are $6 per session and are available at the door.

CHAMPIONSHIPS FORMAT:  Ten teams will compete for the team titles in Division 1 and in Division 2 . The top two teams from each of the five sectionals in each division qualify 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.  

CHAMPIONSHIPS STREAMED LIVE:  All events of the individual and team championships will be streamed live and can be viewed with a subscription to the NFHS Network. To purchase a subscription to the live programming for only $9.95 per month, log-on to www.wiaa.tv or www.nfhsnetwork.com and click on the subscription button in the header of the page. Archived streams of the sessions will be available on demand on www.nfhsnetwork.com 72 hours after the tournament without requirement of a subscription. 

COMPETING TEAMS:  There are 10 teams that compete for the team State championship in both divisions. The teams qualifying in Division 1, with the number of times the programs have qualified for the team competition in parentheses, are Arrowhead (14), Burlington/Badger/Catholic Central/Union Grove/Williams Bay/Wilmot Union (1), Franklin/Muskego/Oak Creek/Whitnall (12), Hartford (3), Hudson (7), Madison Memorial (21), Manitowoc Lincoln (7), Marshfield (3), Middleton (23), Waukesha West/Catholic Memorial/Waukesha North/Waukesha South (1). The 10 teams competing in Division 2 are Ashland (18), Dodgeville/Mineral Point (4), Elkhorn (6), Medford (2), Mount Horeb (32), Platteville/Belmont/ Lancaster (8), River Falls (29), Waupun (3), West Salem/Aquinas/Bangor (3) and Whitefish Bay (24). There were 79 teams in the tournament series this year, including 39 in Division 1 and 40 in Division 2.

TEAM TOURNAMENT HISTORY:  The WIAA has sponsored the State Gymnastics Championships since 1971. The event featured one division from 1971 through 1977. The State Tournament Series competition was divided into two divisions in 1978. Whitefish Bay has won the most team championships with nine, which doesn’t include two titles with Shorewood as a co-op. Waukesha West/North/South and the co-op of Franklin/Muskego/Oak Creek/Whitnall are next on the list with seven. River Falls is next with six. Brookfield Central, De Pere and Mount Horeb have five titles. Nicolet and Southwestern/Cuba City have won four championships. Beth Weber of Whitefish Bay/Shorewood has won the most individual championships in meet history with 10. Gina Piazza of Fall River is next with eight, and Jenny Donar of Southwestern/Cuba City and Samantha Krueger of River Falls have won seven.

LAST YEAR:  Franklin/Muskego/Oak Creek/Whitnall Co-op won its third consecutive  Division 1 team championship with a team score of 147.8333. Arrowhead placed runner-up with a tally of 144.4667. Individually, Alexis Woida of Arrowhead won the all-around competition with a score of 37.767. Georgia Williams of Waukesha West/Catholic Memorial/Waukesha North/Waukesha South claimed the championship on the balance beam with a score of 9.517. Allayah Lane of Sun Prairie and Lexi Romero of Brookfield East/Central were the co-champions in the floor exercise with routines scoring 9.40. Krystal Nelson of the Franklin/Muskego/Oak Creek/Whitnall scored a 9.567 to win the uneven bars competition, and Karina Sabol of Middleton and Tyra Turner of Madison Memorial were the co-champions in the vault with scores of 9.60.  In Division 2, Whitefish Bay won the team title for the third straight season and for the membership-leading ninth time overall with a score of 141.7167. River Falls was runner-up for the third straight season, finishing with a score of 140.55. Individually, Samantha Krueger of River Falls was the big winner, winning three events and the all-around. She won the all-around with a score of 36.950. She won the balance beam with a mark of 9.45, the floor exercise with a 9.567 and the vault with a 9.467. Addie Gallun of Whitefish won the uneven bars with a score of 9.40.

DIVISION 1 NOTEBOOK:  There are three former champions seeking additional titles. Senior Alexis Woida of Arrowhead is the returning champion in the all-around. Senior Krystal Nelson of the Franklin Co-op has sights on retaining the title she won last season on the uneven bars. Junior Lexi Penney of Brookfield East/Central looks to return to the championship form in the balance beam. She won the event in 2017 and placed fourth a year ago. Other than the returning champions in their respective events, the top placers last season returning to their events are senior Mackenzie Pendleton of Mukwonago/Kettle Moraine, who was runner-up on the balance beam; sophomore Maggie Losch of Kenosha Tremper/Indian Trail/Bradford/ Westosha Central, who placed third in the floor exercise, and Woida, who finished third in the vault. Performances at last week’s sectionals may be an indication of the contenders for individual titles and the all-around championship this week. In Division 1, Woida won the all-around at the Oconomowoc Sectional on the strength of her first-place finishes in the uneven bars, balance beam and the floor exercise. Sophomore Gracie Holland of Marshfield won the uneven bars and vault en route to the all-around title at the Chippewa Falls Sectional. Senior Jordan Baggot of Middleton also won the all-around honors and both the floor exercise and vault at the La Crosse Sectional. Senior Elizabeth Missiaen of the Franklin Co-op finished ninth in the all-around last season and won both the vault and floor exercise at the Burlington Sectional, but it was Nelson that won the sectional all-around title. Junior Taylor Raskin won the uneven bars at the Hartford Sectional after finishing State runner-up behind Krystal Nelson last season.   

DIVISION 2 NOTEBOOK:  Sophomore Addie Gallun of Whitefish Bay is the lone returning champion in the division. She has qualified in the uneven bars after winning the title as a freshman last season.  She is also the top returning gymnast in the all-around and the vault after placing runner-up at State in both those events a year ago, Gallun’s teammate, senior Emma Fox, is the top returner in the other two events. She was runner-up in the floor and tied for fifth in the balance beam in 2018. Other top contenders for the gold medal in various events based on last week’s sectional performances include junior Miah Lemanski of Dodgeville/Mineral Point, who  was 10th at State in the all-around last year after a fifth-place finish in 2017. She returns after winning the all-around title at the Platteville Sectional, which included first-place finishes in the balance beam and uneven bars. Senior Isabelle Seeger of Ashland won the all-around title at the Antigo sectional, which included a top finish in the balance beam after placing 18th in the all-round at State last year. Freshman Ella Krause of West Salem/Aquinas/Bangor claimed the all-around title at the West Salem Sectional without winning an individual event but by placing in the top five of all four events.

FOLLOW STATE MEET ON SOCIAL MEDIA:  Receive updates of the State Gymnastics Tournament on the WIAA State Tournament Twitter account @wiaawistate with the hashtag #wiaagym. Also like us on Facebook, follow us on Instagram at wiaawi, and add us on Snapchat at wiaawis.

NEED THE QUALIFIERS?:  All participants and rotations  of qualifying teams and individuals are available on the WIAA website. Access the gymnastics homepage and select the State Tournament Information section in the right column, or log-in to the restricted media area of the site and access the information in the State Tourney Information in the center section.

NEED RESULTS?:  The quickest way to attain results will be to access the Tournament Information section from the gymnastics homepage on the WIAA website.

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