MEDFORD-COLBYGYMNASTICS - GNC hopes dashed in close loss; gymnasts aim to get healthy for post-season

MEDFORD-COLBY GYMNASTICS

Medford-Colby head gymnastics coach Andree Brushaber warned after the team’s record-setting day at the Jan. 27 Antigo Invitational that momentum can be a hard thing to carry from meet to meet in this sport.

It didn’t take long for that to be proven. While there were some season-best scores, the Raiders didn’t hit on all cylinders Thursday on a night where every tenth of a point mattered and they fell 131.8-131.15 to host Wisconsin Rapids in a Great Northern Conference Large Division dual meet. Rapids claimed second place following the duals with the win, while the loss likely eliminated any chance of a title share for Medford-Colby, who finished the duals 1-2 behind 2-1 Rapids and 3-0 Marshfield.

Kyla Krause led the Raiders by winning the all-around competition with 34.35 points and finished first in the vault and uneven bars events. Rapids only had one all-around, Emily Hartjes, who was second with 32.8 total points, but the Red Raiders got a team effort to pull out the tight win in their home finale for the regular season.

“Gymnastics ebbs and flows,” Brushaber said. “This was an ebbing moment that got away from us. We were not 100% and that resulted in a loss.”

Medford-Colby outscored Wisconsin Rapids on the uneven bars 31.1-29.2, led by Krause’s winning score of 8.4, which put her a half-point ahead of runnerup Laynee Steinhafel of Rapids. Shayla Radlinger took third for the Medford-Colby with a 7.75, 0.15 points ahead of Hartjes. Bridget Cloud got a 7.5 to place fifth, Delaina Meyer was sixth with a 7.45 and Veronica Mateer was seventh at 7.25.

The Raiders dropped a full point from their Antigo performance with 33.8 vault points, a half-point behind the home team’s total. Krause’s 8.8 just got her past Rapids’ Macey Beck, who got an 8.7, and Yanissa Quilantan, who earned an 8.6 from the judges. Medford-Colby senior Ellison Carbaugh earned a season-best score of 8.4 and placed sixth, followed by Kaileigh Mientke with a season-best 8.35, Radlinger with an 8.25 and Raylin Rothmeier with an 8.2.

The Raiders were down to four floor entrants for the second straight meet and were outscored 35.1-33.55 in what is often one of the team’s strongest events. Krause was third with an 8.85, just behind Quilantan (8.95) and Sophie Hassenohrl (8.9). Mateer placed seventh at 8.4, while Rothmeier and Radlinger tied for eighth with 8.15s.

Rapids had a 33.2-32.7 edge on the balance beam. Krause led Medford-Colby with a fourth-place score of 8.3. Cloud was right behind her, tying her season-best of 8.2 and tying Rothmeier for fifth place. Mateer was seventh at 8.0 and Radlinger was eighth with her 7.8.

“We only had four girls available for floor and we had some unforeseen mistakes on beam,” Brushaber said. “We experienced a new injury at Rapids and that took out Lindsey Kauffman for the season, so we are down to eight girls. Delaina Meyer is still questionable on whether she can compete in other events besides bars. Delaina is such a positive, hard-working, goal-setting young lady though and is so empathetic toward others. It is hard to see someone so passionate and dedicated hurt and we have seen that happen with over half the team this year.”

The good news, according to Brushaber, is that there is still time to make improvements and reach the Raiders’ ultimate goal of success in the WIAA Division 2 post-season. There are two regular-season meets left. The first is the Ashland Invitational on Saturday, where the Raiders have historically done very well. The Great Northern Conference championships are set for Feb. 17 at Rhinelander.

“This does hurt us conference wise, however, I always thought these girls were meant for even bigger things,” Brushaber said. “We need to repackage this loss as an opportunity to fuel our fire so that we dedicate practices for repetition. I am optimistic that their true potential will be revealed and well represented at sectionals.

“Overall, I think if we can focus on the event one athlete at a time while enjoying themselves, we can get back into the flow of things,” she added. “Our girls have been cleaning up some skills and making better choices in the moment during routine mishaps, so I am excited to see how that is received both individually as well as a team in Ashland.”