Raiders inch upward in two straight meets
MEDFORD GYMNASTICS
The Medford gymnasts went into Tuesday’s Great Northern Conference dual meet at Lakeland with a confident yet purposeful attitude, according to head coach Steve Cain, and the result was an improved overall team score and season-best team marks on the uneven bars and vault in a 131.375101.5 win.
Medford swept the top five positions in each event but one and had the top three allaround gymnasts, led by Kyla Krause, who was just 0.2 points off her personal best with 33.475 total points and won the vault and bars competitions.
Senior Makala Ulrich was the winner in the floor exercise and on the balance beam and took second in all-around competition with 33.25 points. Kate Malchow was third all-around (32.0).
“It was an exciting, fun meet,” Cain said. “Everybody was relaxed, everybody just seemed to fall into the pocket of just doing what they needed to get done, but there was no tension. It was not like there were just out there thinking whatever happens, happens. It was like we’re going to make stuff happen and we’re going to try our best.”
The Raiders set the tone in their first two events. Starting on the bars, Krause set a personal-best score of 8.4 to win it.
“Kyla did her handstands on the low bar and she hit her handstand going into her giants beautifully,” Cain said.
Ulrich got an 8.0, Malchow earned a 7.95, freshman Shayla Radlinger set a new best at 7.75 and Avery Purdy got a 7.05 in Medford’s first through fifth finishes. The Raiders’s 32.1 points on the bars surpassed the 31.75 points they got in their season-opening home meet.
Ellison Carbaugh got a 6.9 and Veronica Mateer got a 6.5 as both set personal records in JV competition. From there, Medford went to vault and continued to shine. Krause, after doing a simpler timer routine in her first attempt, pulled out her full Yurchenko on the second one and nailed it for a 9.225, not far off her school record of 9.4 from last year.
“She flipped it high and in perfect pike form,” Cain said. “She landed it, stuck it and got a 9.225.”
Carbaugh took second, jumping up 0.35 points to an 8.65, just ahead of Ulrich’s 8.6. Mateer, another freshman, tied her season-best of 8.45 and Malchow was fifth at 8.1. Medford not only got over 34 points for the first time this winter, the team almost hit the 35-point barrier at 34.925 points.
Radlinger’s 8.2 score as the only JV entrant was a personal best.
The Raiders didn’t quite set a seasonbest team score on the floor, but the efforts were still strong.
Ulrich won it with a season-best 8.8, Krause wasn’t far from a personal best at 8.6, Malchow earned an 8.25 and Mateer was fourth with an 8.1, just 0.05 off her best. After Lakeland’s Vicky Supinski took fifth at 7.6, Radlinger was sixth at 7.55. Purdy added a JV score of 7.4.
“Floor was strong,” Cain said. “The girls displayed improvements. I think we’re trying to get a little showy out there and you could tell. We didn’t get any PRs but we were so close.”
Medford finished the night on the balance beam, which remained a trouble spot, even though the Raiders swept the top five individual placements. Ulrich won it with a 7.85, just ahead of Purdy’s 7.8, which is her season-best. Malchow got a 7.7, Krause got a 7.25 and Radlinger’s score was 7.15. “They always have good routines,” Cain said. “They performed strong. They presented themselves well. They executed their skills. We have to see a little bit more fight from them when they finish a skill or a jump series. We need more fight in them to stay on that beam. There’s too many times where we land it and then fall.”
Mateer had the top JV score of 8.0, which is a personal best, while Carbaugh got a 6.5 to beat Lakeland’s only JV entrant of the meet, Takhmina Kamolova (4.6).
“As a coach, I told them I was very proud of them,” Cain said. “They brought the score up. I feel like if they can keep this track going that there’s no end to what they can do before the season ends. They can really hit it.”
Medford heads to the Valders-Roncalli Invitational on Saturday.
Fifth at River Falls
Every fraction of a point mattered when it came to team placement Saturday at the 10-team Winter Wonderland Invitational hosted by River Falls High School.
While Saint Francis, Minn. distanced itself with 136.3 points and won the meet, just 1.05 points separated the next five squads in an invite full of talented athletes.
Medford finished fifth in the final standings with 129.425 points, just ahead of Ashland (129.125) and just behind River Falls (130.175), Hudson (129.75) and the combined team of Onalaska and Onalaska Luther (129.575). Centennial, Minn. wasn’t far behind in seventh place with 127.425 points.
According to Cain, the fun part about this meet was seeing the Raiders build from one event to the next and finishing with a strong effort on the uneven bars with a near season-high of 31.325 points. The team score for the day was Medford’s second-highest total of the season in four meets.
“I told the girls it’s all about how your attitude is going out to that piece of equipment,” Cain said. “It’s how your attitude is when you’re on the event and your attitude when you get done with that event. It’s going to definitely push toward how you’re going to do on the next event. In this meet it seemed to change. It seemed everyone was on board. As a coach, regardless of what the score would be, regardless of how the outcome is, they gave me something to be excited about. I couldn’t wait to get to next event.”
The Raiders got the balance beam out of the way first and got an eighth-place score of 8.525 from Ulrich. Krause tied for 25th at 7.725 and Purdy tied for 31st at 7.525. Malchow earned a 7.25 and Mateer got a 7.2. As the alternate sixth entrant, Radlinger got a solid 7.8.
Medford picked up momentum on the floor, scoring 33.175 points, led by Ulrich’s fifth-place score of 8.75 and Krause’s 8.325 that tied for 18th. Malchow tied for 24th at 8.175 and Mateer was 32nd at 7.925. Purdy added a 7.9 as the alternate and Radlinger got a 7.5.
“They all did a great job,” Cain said. “We have a different mix of girls in there now for varsity, including Shayla and Veronica as freshmen. They proved themselves well. They’re finding out now in the big leagues there are things that have to be amped up. They were impressive with the routines, what they attempted to do and carrying through with what they’ve practiced. It’s all about consistency now.” Medford then scored a season-best 33.9 points on the vault. Krause hit her Yurchenko and finished fourth with an 8.85. Mateer was part of a five-way tie for 15th at 8.45, while Malchow and Carbaugh tied for 24th with 8.3s and Ulrich was right behind them with an 8.25. Radlinger got an 8.0 as the event alternate.
Malchow flipped her Yurchenko for the first time in a meet and, while the landings need work, Cain said it was exciting to see the junior clear that hurdle.
“It was a little bit scary, but it showed Kate where she’s at,” Cain said. “All of the girls were impressive. Veronica, Makala and Elllison all threw their quarter/ three-quarter vaults and they did a wonderful job. Veronica PR’d on hers. Ellison PR’d on hers.”
Malchow led Medford on the bars with a fifth-place score of 8.3 and Ulrich was eighth at 8.0. Radlinger set a personal record at 7.7, which tied for 15th. Krause had the hard-luck score of the day at 7.325, which tied for 22nd and Purdy was 27th at 7.2. Carbaugh was the alternate and got a 6.8.
“On Kyla’s second giant, she smacked her foot on the low bar and it kind of stopped her,” Cain said. “She was connecting, she was flowing, she was tight, her legs were together when they should have been. It was working out great and then that happened. She took a gamble and tried to do some re-swings and get back up into that front support position so she could do her dismount.”
Ulrich had a season-best total of 33.525 points to place fourth all-around behing Gabby Dawson (35.625) and Lauryn Perry (34.3) of Saint Francis and Emily Warren of Hudson (33.55). Krause (32.225) and Malchow (32.025) were 15th and 16th.
“The judges said they have their stuff,” Cain said. “They just need to clean it up. Get their jumps a little higher and watch the pauses on the beam and bars. Just show their confidence. They have it, so just use it.”
Perry was the meet’s vault champion with a 9.25, while Menomonie’s Izzie Whitman got a 9.1. Dawson won the bars at 9.1 and the beam at 9.3. Perry added a 9.025 on beam. Ashland’s Catie McPherson won the floor with a 9.0.
Chisago Lakes, Minn. was eighth in the team standings at 124.625, followed by Menomonie (114.675) and Grantsburg (82.35).
Medford’s Makala Ulrich dismounts off the balance beam, ending her winning routine during the Raiders’ dual-meet win at Lakeland Tuesday. Ulrich earned a 7.85 on the event.BRETT LaBORE/THE LAKELAND TIMES
