Co-op gymnasts take seventh at state

Three Colby athletes compete in Rapids

The Medford/Colby gymnastics team competed at their fourth straight D-2 state team competition this past Friday. The meet was held at the Wisconsin Rapids-Lincoln High School Fieldhouse in Wisconsin Rapids, where the co-op team took on nine other programs from across the state.

In a tight competition, the Medford/Colby combined team’s 135.217 points earned them seventh place, though mere tenths of a point separated the fourth through seventh place teams. Nicolet claimed the state championship with 142.750 points, followed by the West Salem co-op with 138.000 points and the Elkhorn Area team with 137.917 points.

Medford/Colby’s best event in comparison to the performances of the other teams was the balance beam, where their combined team score of 33.117 was the fourth best. Colby gymnasts Veronica Mateer and Bridget Cloud participated for the co-op on the beam.

Mateer’s final score of 8.050 was 31st of the 50 competitors in each event, earning an 8.05, 8.10, and a 8.00 from the trio of judges.

Cloud was immediately behind her teammate, taking 32nd overall after receiving three scores of 7.85, 8.10, and 8.00 for an average final of 7.983, nearly three-tenths of a point better than her 7.70 she earned at the sectional meet.

Mateer also competed in the floor exercise, which was the co-op’s highest scoring event with a final team total of 34.617. The floor exercise was also a number of other teams’ best event, however, and Medford/Colby ended up sixth overall. Mateer tied for 33rd, receiving scores of 8.50, 8.30, and 8.20 for a final of 8.333 for her performance. This was an improvement over her score of 8.075 at the sectional meet.

Delaina Meyer was also called upon for the floor exercise, putting up a final score of 8.500 derived from the 8.50, 8.30, and 8.70 points she received from the judges. Her performance was an improvement over the 8.10 score she was given at sectionals and earned her the highest placement for the Colby gymnasts at the meet, coming in 26th overall.

Meyer also competed in both the vault and the uneven bars. The freshman tied for 29th in the vault with a final score of 8.417 and was 37th in the uneven bars after earning an average score of 7.767. As a team, the Medford/Colby co-op took fifth in the vault with 34.600 points and sixth in the uneven bars with 32.883 points.

The co-op’s highest scoring performance came from junior Kyla Krause in the vault, where she earned a final score of 9.133, which was the fourth highest overall in the event.

Krause and senior Kate Malchow also participated in the individual all-around state competition. Malchow placed 16th in the competition and Krause took 23rd.

With another successful season in the books, the co-op will start looking ahead to next season. While they will be without the services of Malchow and fellow senior Avery Purdy, the team will be returning eight of their top ten members while eyeing their fourth straight sectional championship and their fifth consecutive team state appearance.