MEDFORD-COLBY GYMNASTICS PREVIEW - MOVING ON UP
MEDFORD-COLBY GYMNASTICS PREVIEW
The successes of the past will result in a difficult season-ending challenge for the Medford-Colby gymnastics co-op, which will compete in the post-season as a Division 1 program.
Between now and then, however, not much will change for the Raiders who, as always, will work on daily and meet-bymeet improvement while creating a strong team chemistry that will help carry them when the big meets arrive in February and March.
Under second-year head coach Andrée Brushaber and assistant Megan Yanko, the Raiders are fielding an expanded roster of 16 girls to start the new season, nearly double what Medford-Colby had last year when the program earned its fifth straight WIAA Division 2 sectional championship and sixth straight team berth in the state championship. With three gymnasts having graduated last year, including record-breaking Kyla Krause who is now part of the acrobatics and tumbling team at the University of Montevallo in Alabama, there are new opportunities for those who return to lead and shine. And Brushaber said that group is off to a strong start since practice officially began Nov. 11.
“I cannot say enough about these girls,” Brushaber said last week. “They are hitting the ground running. They are encouraging each other and really want to organize some team building events to bring the same family vibe we had last year. It is hard to get that many girls into one house for some of their ideas, so we may need to get creative. Going Division 1 this year has motivated them even more to build upon their skills and motivate/support others. The level of maturity and genuine concern for everyone is evident. It is such a beautiful thing.”
As has been the case the past handful of seasons, Medford-Colby will get the new year underway by hosting its Hot Cocoa Invitational Saturday at Medford Area Elementary School. The meet starts at 9 a.m. and will include the team’s friendly Great Northern Conference rivals from Marshfield, as well as Mosinee, Rice Lake and Tomah.
Six of last year’s nine gymnasts are back from last year’s ninth-place team at state, led by the core group of seniors Shayla Radlinger and Veronica Mateer, juniors Delaina Meyer and Bridget Cloud and sophomore Raylin Rothmeier. Sophomore Lindsey Kauffman returns as well.
Rothmeier placed 24th in the Division state all-around competition to end last season and also qualified individually in all four events and could take over a role as the team’s top all-around after Krause’s third-place state finish last year, which included a second-place finish on the uneven bars. Mateer and Cloud were individual state qualifiers on the balance beam.
From there, Brushaber and Yanko are working with a large group of high school newcomers, some of whom have come up through the Rainbow Gymnastics Club.
Additional seniors this year include Bethany Jokiel, who was on the team as a freshman, and Camille Boutier-Dache.
Evie Beidel and Ellie Eckert are new sophomores to the team and a sizable freshman class includes Brooke Buechel, Ada Freiberg, Kate Gierl, Jordyn Grant, Rylee Hartwig, and Haddie Ziehlke. Rachel Varney is the team’s new manager.
Early on, Brushaber said the practice focus for the experienced girls is perfecting the individual skills they know need to be worked on.
For the new girls, it’s been about learning the fundamentals that will eventually lead to their first routines.
“I have had them focus on the individual skills they are working on,” Brushaber said.
“The newer girls are told to focus on the basic skills to formulate a routine. I have been encouraging them to see this year as a skillbuilding year and to give themselves time when learning things.
We had a couple of sprained feet already which has slowed the training of those two girls. I directed girls to formulate beam routines and floor routines and then we will put together bars. Bars are a little more fluid. Things do not change as much on bars as they do for floor or beam. The girls are focused on formulating routines and polishing them.”
With four of the five team state performers on the beam back (Rothmeier, Mateer, Cloud and Radlinger), it makes sense that event is one where the Raiders expect some big things.
In time, however, Brushaber sees this team being strong at the varsity level on the bars, vault and floor exercise as well.
“The strengths are not limited to one event, but beam is looking very solid,” she said. “We have some exciting things happening for floor and bars too. I feel like we have secret weapons on vault that just are on the cusp of fruition. It will come down to reps and having enough time to fine tune things but also we need to have the girls get over some nerves to complete them.
“Beam looks so solid this year and that is saying something because we had three beautiful beam athletes that graduated last year,” Brushaber added. “Release skills on bars has had many of the veteran athletes’ focus lately. I think the girls are aware of how strong our beam can be this year and just how deep our team is. Our vaults may make the most improvement if we can get over the last bit of reservation. Honestly though, our floor could easily improve just as much. We had some injuries last year that halted some athletes from showing their true potential on certain events but they were fighters to get through it. We really need to lean on each other and become specialists in certain areas so that overall our team score improves.”
Being in year two as coaches certainly makes like a little more comfortable for Brushaber and Yanko. Yanko is also now the director of Rainbow Gymnastics. Having a much larger roster naturally creates some challenges in the first month, but the depth is something the Raiders wanted after last year.
“This is quite an exciting time for (Yanko),” Brushaber said. “She seems very relaxed, calm, cool and collected. For me, we have more girls that are new to gymnastics and a manager this year which is exciting, but it is more to keep track of. It is more planning and supervision. I am very excited to get started with the competitions but the start of the year always feels stressful since we have so much to prepare for in a short time. … We have support if we need it through Steve (Cain) and Jaylene (Lannet) which is so helpful. I have made some additional connections with coaches and judges at clinics. I am just so grateful for all the wonderful people who are a part of this sport. I want to thank our bus drivers, the Rainbow staff, and the community for supporting our team through our fundraisers. We would love to see spectators at our home meets.”
Medford-Colby’s success in the sport the past three years is the reason for the team’s move to Division 1 this year. This is the first school year the WIAA is using its performance factor in the divisional placement process for each sport. Sectional championships in the last three years gave the Raiders the six points needed to bump up a division.
That will put Medford-Colby in the West Salem sectional with Chippewa Falls, Eau Claire Memorial-North, Holmen, Hudson, La Crosse Logan-Central, Superior and the West Salem Co-op. The West Salem Co-op also got bumped up this year.
Medford-Colby is already somewhat used to D-1 competition, facing Marshfield, Stevens Point and Wisconsin Rapids in the Great Northern Conference’s Large Division. Marshfield is the defending conference champion, though Medford-Colby won the conference meet last year on its way to a second-place finish in the overall standings.
Brushaber admitted the move, when announced last spring, jolted the Raiders at first.
“At first, it was daunting but then we just could not focus on it anymore,” she said. “I told the girls that we just need to rise up. We need to all get better and boost each other. The girls started this season with a laser focus and an understanding that we will worry about each meet as it comes. We can only do our best and give our best efforts day in and day out.”
Besides Saturday’s Hot Cocoa Invitational, the Raiders’ home meets this season are GNC Large Division dual meets Dec. 19 against Stevens Point and Feb. 6 against Wisconsin Rapids.
