Raiders debut in new division with win
MEDFORD GYMNASTICS
GOOD START TO LIVING LARGE
Medford’s junior standout Kyla Krause had a big night individually Tuesday and as a team the Raiders excelled on vault and on the floor while earning their first Great Northern Conference win of the season, a 132.575-127.7 victory over visiting Stevens Point.
The win was the first for the Raiders as members of the GNC’s Large Schools Division. Medford made the move this year after a run of four straight championships and five titles in six years in the Small Division.
Krause was just one-tenth of a point away from tying the all-around school record held by teammate Kate Malchow. Her meet total of 35.175 points included winning scores on the vault, uneven bars and in the floor exercise.
She tied her own school record on the vault with a 9.4, set a new personalbest score of 9.3 on the floor and tied her personal best of 8.6 on the bars. Had it not been for a couple of falls on the balance beam, she would’ve set the allaround record. She shattered her previous all-around best of 34.525.
Medford’s team total was its best in three meets this season and provides some good momentum heading into the team’s holiday break from competition. The Raiders will next visit Large Division favorite Marshfield on Jan. 12.
“We’re excited about tonight and how we executed and everything,” Medford head coach Steve Cain said. “That’s always good going into the holiday part of the season.”
Medford got off to a brilliant start on the vault, scoring 34.8 points with all five varsity gymnasts getting scores well into the eights. Krause, of course, did much better than that, leading things off with two spot-on Yurchenkos that earned scores of 9.35 and 9.4 with the higher score being her official score for the event.
Freshman Delaina Meyer stuck her second quarter/three-quarter attempt for an 8.55 that was her best score so far and good for third on Tuesday, just behind Point’s Carlee Kerchefski (8.6).
Ellison Carbaugh’s 8.45 wasn’t far off her personal-best of 8.65 and was good for fifth place, one-tenth behind Panther Maggie Behnke. Freshman Bridgit Cloud set a new best at 8.4 to place sixth and Kate Malchow went for her Yurchenko on both attempts and earned an 8.3 to place seventh as she was just unable to hit her landings.
The end of the meet was the other highlight for Medford with a season-high 34.7 points on the floor.
Krause’s 9.3 challenged the 2004 school record held by Megan Strama and led a run of four Raiders at the top of the event’s results. Malchow earned an 8.8 to fall 0.175 points shy of her personal best. Meyer and Shayla Radlinger tied for third with 8.3s with Meyer setting a new best. Veronica Mateer tied for eighth with her 7.4.
“With floor we were on,” Cain said. “A 9.375 is the school record and Kyla got a 9.3. Are you kidding me? Kate she had an 8.8. She had a few bobbles in her routine. That would’ve put her at a 9. Shayla had a couple things, like the height of her jumps. But she was so close. Delaina PR’d. Floor was the highlight.”
Krause’s 8.6 on bars took first place but Malchow wasn’t far behind at 8.35. She nudged past Point’s Lauren Lemke (8.3) for second place. Radlinger was seventh for the Raiders at 7.3, Avery Purdy was eighth at 7.2 and Meyer set another personal-best score at 7.1, good for ninth.
The one trouble spot for the Raiders was the balance beam, where six falls held them to 31.625 points, compared to the Panthers’ 31.75.
Mateer was solid and led the Raiders with an 8.0 that was good for third behind Lemke (8.9) and Point’s Nora Wroblewski (8.2). Purdy had no falls and placed fourth at 7.95, Krause got a 7.875, Malchow was sixth with a 7.8 and Kaileigh Mientke was ninth with her 7.0.
“Went from one fall at Rhinelander to six,” Cain said. “With the falls and broken connections it did toss our score down. We only had one girl hit an 8. That’s not like us.”
Malchow was second in the all-around standings with 33.25 points.
The Raiders competed against themselves in the JV portion of the meet and compiled 95.15 team points.
On vault, Mateer was a tenth off her personal best at 8.4, Radlinger tied hers at 8.2, Sadie Moore got an 8.0 in her first high-school vault and Mientke and Purdy each earned 7.8s. Cloud set a personal record by one tenth with a 7.7 on the beam that was tied by Radlinger for first place. Meyer earned a 6.9, Moore got a 6.65 and Carbaugh was fifth at 5.0. Purdy was just off her best with a 7.9 on the floor that was followed by Cloud’s 6.9. Cloud set a new best on bars with a 6.6, followed by Carbaugh (6.3) and Mateer (6.1).
First at Rhinelander
The Raiders picked up their first meet championship of the 2022-23 season on Saturday by beating six other teams while scoring 131.75 points at Rhinelander’s Snowflake Invitational.
Cain said the team’s veterans will readily admit the Hodag Dome is not one of their favorite venues as memories of teammate Anna Wanke’s season-ending injury last year on the floor or a different setup on the uneven bars than they’re used to may have played with their minds some. But Cain felt they overcame those thoughts, increasing their team score by 4.8 points over their opening home meet two weeks earlier.
“They seemed to rally around that knowing that we can’t cry over spilled milk from previous seasons or last season,” Cain said. “It is what it is.”
What wound up happening is the Raiders easily outscored former GNC Small Division rivals Mosinee (118.55), Lakeland (105.95) and Rhinelander (100.35), who took the fifth through seventh places in the standings, had a sizable margin over the one unknown team, fourth-place Bloomer-Colfax (119.95) and got by two teams who could be sectional challengers come late February in second-place Ashland (128.525) and third-place Antigo (124.975).
“Ashland is always and will be a team that you can never let your guard down against,” Cain said. “Antigo is right there too. They’re right there wanting to be on top like anyone else.”
Malchow led Medford by taking the day’s all-around championship with 34.35 points, not too far off her schoolrecord 35.275 from last year, and Krause was right behind her with 33.875 points. Malchow won the uneven bars and balance beam events, while Krause won the vault.
Krause’s 9.125 on vault was Medford’s highest score of the meet as she solidly landed her Yurchenko. Malchow attempted her Yurchenko and despite not quite landing it, she placed sixth with an 8.35. Meyer, who completed her first varsity all-around competition, was 12th at 8.05, Cloud upped her score by 0.05 points while 16th at 7.95 and Radlinger made her first two attempts at a tsuk vault and placed 21st at 7.5.
The Raiders scored 33.475 vault points, an improvement of 2.125 points from Dec. 3. Cain said it’s been obvious to him in the season’s first two meets there is an emphasis on tightly judging vault routines.
“We noticed that they’re really sticking to the specifics of what they’re needing to score and how they should score for deductions and for the value of things,” Cain said. “They’re watching it. I could tell right from the first meet. This meet I could tell more. They’re watching things so close.”
Another big improvement came on the balance beam, where Medford scored 33.875 points, up 1.825 points from Dec. 3, in its first event of the meet. The five Raiders had just one total fall.
Malchow led the way with a winning score of 8.95, just ahead of Ashland’s Ali Vittone (8.9). Mateer was fourth at 8.375, Krause was fifth at 8.35, Meyer placed seventh at 8.2 and Purdy was 24th at 6.75. The Raiders improved by 1.625 points on the uneven bars, scoring 31.625 Saturday. Malchow’s 8.625 won it, while Krause was right behind her with an 8.3, just ahead of Bloomer-Colfax’s Olivia Price (8.2). Purdy and Radlinger tied for 10th 7.55 and Meyer tied for 16th with her 6.75.
Medford had three falls on tumbling passes on the floor, which hurt the team score at bit, though its 32.775 points in the event was the second-highest of the day behind Ashland (33.325). Malchow was third with an 8.425, Mateer rounded out the top five with a strong score of 8.35, Krause was ninth at 8.1, Meyer tied for 13th with a 7.9 and Radlinger tied for 20th at 7.55. Meyer finished with 30.9 allaround points, good for 10th place.
Ashland’s Jaycee Erickson won the floor exercise with an 8.8 and Mosinee’s Avery Ahles was second at 8.75.
“We talk about pride and being proud and determination,” Cain said. “We use all of these big words. But I think the girls individually and then collectively as a team, they seemed to have a real feelgood pride in what they’ve been doing and what they wanted to do that day.”
Kyla Krause flips onto the vault table during her personal-best and school-record tying attempt Tuesday that earned a 9.4 from the judges.MATT FREY/THE STAR NEWS
Delaina Meyer earned a score of 7.9 in Saturday’s floor exercise at Rhinelander.JEREMY MAYO/NORTHWOODS RIVER NEWS
