RECORD BREAKERS

MEDFORD GYMNASTICS

Gymnasts erase 2020 team record in Ashland

MATT FREY/THE STAR NEWS

Medford’s gymnastics team shot off its 131-point plateau in a big threeday stretch where they took down Wisconsin Rapids in a close dual meet Thursday night and then shot up to a school-record 135.175 points to win the eight-team Ashland Valentines Invitational on Saturday.

The new record high surpassed the score of 134.901 that stood since the 2020 WIAA Division 2 state meet, though the Raiders did hit 134.9 in last February’s Great Northern Conference meet in Medford.

The Raiders outscored host Ashland (131.35) by nearly four points to win the meet. Stevens Point edged Antigo 128.275-128.2 to grab third place. Superior was fifth at 114.8, followed by Lakeland (103.15), Grantsburg (100.875) and Rhinelander (45.1), who had just two available gymnasts for the meet.

The big jump Saturday came in the floor exercise where five of Medford’s competitors set personal-record scores and a sixth, Veronica Mateer, just missed. Medford earned a season-high 35.525 points on the floor, easily beating the 34.35 the Raiders scored less than 48 hours earlier.

“The floor routines were just incredible,” Medford head coach Steve Cain said. “They nailed it.”

Senior Makala Ulrich led Medford with a personal-best 9.2, one-tenth higher than her score on Thursday, and good for a first-place tie with Ashland’s Catie McPherson. Antigo’s Kaley Zarda was third at 9.075. Junior Kate Malchow shot up to an 8.975 to take fifth. Her previous season-best was an 8.5 and she nudged past her 2021 personal-best of 8.925. Krause’s sixth-place 8.9 got her past her previous best of 8.75.

Mateer’s 8.45 tied for 10th and was just off her best of 8.5 set Feb. 3 in Mosinee. Fellow freshman Shayla Radlinger bumped up to an 8.1 from the 8.05 she got Thursday and junior Avery Purdy bumped up a tenth to a new best of 8.0.

Before that, the Raiders started the meet on the balance beam and did well, but there were a few mistakes they could have let bother them.

“I always talk to them about redemption,” Cain said. “If you feel like you didn’t get something or something didn’t work out or you’re disappointed in something you did, don’t take that disappointment and let it bring you down. We have the next event to think about. And they did.”

Medford scored 34.4 vault points, led by Krause’s winning score of 8.95. Mateer and Ellison Carbaugh were part of a four-way tie for fourth at 8.5, which was a personal-best for Mateer. Ulrich tied for ninth at 8.45, Malchow stayed consistent at 8.2 and Radlinger got an 8.1 while competing at the varsity level for the first time.

“Right down the line, all of the vaults were strong,” Cain said. “I think sticking the landing may have been a little bit of an issue. We could’ve maybe hit 35 total on vault if it wasn’t for all the little steps, not to take away from what the girls did do.”

The team’s balance beam score was 33.175, a point above its season average. Ulrich and Krause were the top scorers at 8.65 and 8.625 respectively.

“We started out good,” Cain said. “Kyla basically hit all of her stuff with no falls. She got her requirements, she got her bonuses, she got her back-to-back superiors. She got all the stuff she was supposed to get. Makala was pretty much the same thing. She hit everything she was supposed to hit.”

Mateer tied her personal best at 8.15, Malchow had a couple of falls yet still tied for 10th at 7.75, and Purdy had one fall in an otherwise solid routine that got her a 7.35. With six competitors allowed in each event in this meet, freshman Bethany Jokiel got her chance for the day to compete and earned a 6.6.

Medford’s 32.075 points on the uneven bars was, again, above the team’s season average, but also showed there is still room to improve for the big season-ending meets that are fast approaching.

Malchow won the event with an 8.2, marking her third straight meet in the eights, and Krause was right on her heels with an 8.1. Cain said with both, little improvements in form in the next couple of weeks would go a long way. Radlinger tied for fifth with a personalbest 7.9 and Ulrich was right behind her at 7.875. Carbaugh shot up from a previous best of 6.9 to a 7.45 and tied for 13th. Purdy successfully added a handstand pirouette on the low bar and got a 7.3.

“She threw something else in there that gave her points,” Cain said. “She did her handstand. She had been playing with that at the gym Friday in practice. Plus she got her back uprises.”

Krause’s winning total of 34.575 all-around points marked Medford’s ninth personal-record score for the day. Ulrich took second with 34.175 points and Malchow was fifth with 33.125.

Medford should secure its fourth Small Division championship in five years at Saturday’s Great Northern Conference meet in Antigo, which starts at 10 a.m. From there, sectionals await on Feb. 25, also in Antigo.

“They are exactly where they need to be at this time of the season,” Cain said.

Win over Rapids

At home for only the second time this season on Thursday, the Raiders posted what was a season-high score of 133.15 to get by a solid squad from Wisconsin Rapids, who totaled 128.525 points.

Among several highlights, Medford scored a seasonhigh 34.35 floor points, led by Ulrich’s personal-best 9.1, got a near record score of 9.3 from Krause on the vault, a personal-best 8.6 from Krause on the bars and a winning score of 8.45 from Malchow on the balance beam.

The theme for the night was found on a small glass bottle the team had with it and it said “Smile, Sparkle, Shine, Enjoy Every Moment.”

“This was for tonight, this is what I wanted them to do tonight,” Cain said after the win. “I wanted them to do that. It was Senior Night, Parent Night and as far as I was concerned, I knew that they were going to want to do good. I knew that. I wanted them to enjoy themselves while they were doing good. To find that balance sometimes is hard. To me they found that balance. They succeeded they again brought their score up. They did great.”

The success started on the vault where Krause led off by nailing two of her pike Yurchenkos in a row, earning scores of 9.1 and 9.3, just off her school record of 9.4. Ulrich and Malchow tied for fourth with 8.3s behind Rapids’ Emmalee Boucher (8.7) and Destinee Steinhafel (8.475), while Mateer got an 8.25 to place sixth. Carbaugh tied for ninth at 8.0.

“All of the vaults were highlights,” Cain said. “Everybody is always wowed by Kyla’s because it does seem to get better and better all the time. The score came pretty darn close to where she could’ve broken that record. Kate has the height with her Yurchenko. She knows when to rotate and how fast. But she’s not quite getting it yet. The first one was close. The rest are doing quarter, three-quarter vaults and all doing a great job. JVs did a super job as well. They’re twisting very well.”

The JV vaulters were Radlinger (7.8) and Jokiel (7.3), who finished fourth and sixth in their results.

While Medford outscored Rapids in all four events, the uneven bars was the spot where the Raiders created the most separation in the team score, earning a 32.1529.75 edge.

Krause led off and beat her previous best score by a tenth with her 8.6. Malchow was second with an 8.2 as she continues to come close to some of her highest scores again. Steinhafel took third for Rapids with an 8.1, but then it was all Medford as Purdy was just off her personal-best score with a solid 7.75, Radlinger was close too with a 7.6 and Ulrich got a 7.55.

Mateer and Carbaugh were third and fourth among JV gymnasts with their scores of 6.8 and 6.6.

“Kyla again looked really good,” Cain said. “Mak just had that glitch in there, so they gave it a stop, or a pause, so that was probably a good three-tenths. Kate knows what she has to fix. It’s basically just tighten those legs up. She has to get her hips and her legs in better control. The judges say Avery’s form is perfect. She’s working on a cast handstand. She’s just about got it. She’s so close. Ellison and Veronica are still working on it. We have more difficult skills they need to do.”

Medford’s 32.5 balance beam points were slightly above their season average and a step in the right direction after a rough night in Mosinee a week earlier.

Malchow’s 8.45 and Ulrich’s 8.35 were the top scores in the meet, just ahead of Steinhafel’s 8.15 and Purdy took fourth by almost setting a personal-best at 8.05. Mateer was seventh at 7.65 and Krause was ninth with a 7.25 as a couple of falls were the only downside of her otherwise big night.

“We reduced our falls,” Cain said. “Last meet we had eight falls. This time we cut that down more than half.”

Radlinger was second on the JV beam with a personal- best 8.1, just behind Boucher’s 8.2. In just her second competition of the season, Sadie Moore tied her first score with a fourth-place 7.6, Jokiel got a personal-best 7.5 and Carbaugh was sixth at 7.1.

Medford finished with a flourish on the floor, scoring 34.35, beating the 34.1 they got in the season’s first home meet. Ulrich beat her previous best by 0.05 points with her winning 9.1. Krause tied her best from last year at 8.75 to tie Steinhafel for second. Mateer missed her best score from the previous week by 0.05 with her 8.45 that placed sixth, just ahead of Radlinger’s new best of 8.05. Malchow was 10th at 7.8.

Purdy tied her best score of 7.9 in JV competition and placed third, while Jokiel was seventh at 6.7.

“We had a lot of good feedback on floor tonight,” Cain said.

Krause’s 33.9 all-around score was a personal best and beat Steinhafel by 0.425 points to place first. Ulrich was third with 33.3 points and Malchow took fourth with 32.75.

“The last four meets we were stuck at a 131,” Cain said. “ So we did a lot of little things right. We fixed some little things and look at how much that changed it. That’s all we need to do.”