WIAA DIV. 1 GYMNASTICS - State vault is a successful one for Rothmeier

WIAA DIV. 1 GYMNASTICS

After getting the last state-qualifying spot of the West Salem sectional, Medford-Colby sophomore gymnast Raylin Rothmeier didn’t equal the score she got that day, but she did improve her standing among the 27 individual vault entrants in WIAA Division 1 state gymnastics competition Saturday at Wisconsin Rapids.

With a score of 9.0, Rothmeier tied for 15th out of those 27 gymnasts in Saturday’s competition. That tied her third-highest score of the season, surpassed only by the 9.05 she earned at Ashland on Feb. 15 and the 9.225 she got at the March 1 sectional. She tied Ava Krista of Chippewa Falls with that score.

Rothmeier got her 9.0 on the first of her two vault attempts, which was the average score among the event’s three judges. She got an 8.8667 on her second vault. The best score of the two is used as a gymnast’s score in the event.

“It was a beautiful pike tsuk,” Medford-Colby head coach Andrée Brushaber said. “I honestly think she vaulted her best vault ever.”

A year ago at state, while competing in Division 2, Rothmeier earned an 8.8333 on vault in day-one team competition and an 8.3 while competing as an all-around in day-two individual competition.

Elkhorn’s Kaylee Frank won the vault state championship with a score of 9.6 on her second attempt. She nudged past Annika Lee of Waunakee-DeForest, who took second at 9.517. Lee was third in Division 1 last year, while Frank was the Division 2 vault runner-up last season.

The rest of the six event medalists were Zoe Marckesano of Verona-Edgewood (9.467), Claire Walther of Eau Claire Memorial-North (9.417), Ella Spaeth of Chippewa Falls (9.4) and Journee Carter of Hartland Arrowhead (9.283).

Frank won the Division 1 all-around state championship, totaling 38.05 points for the meet. On Friday, Chippewa Falls, the West Salem sectional champion, won the Division 1 team state championship with 143.55 points, just ahead of Oak Creek-Whitnall (142.6) and Verona-Edgewood (142.433). Rice Lake made it a sweep of state titles for the Big Rivers Conference. The Warriors won the Division 2 team championship with 138.234 points, just enough to beat Monona Grove (137.517) and the Dodgeville Co-op (137.05).

Great Northern Conference Large Division representative Stevens Point finished seventh in the Division 1 team competition with 136.967 points and Marshfield was fourth in Division 2 with 136.817 points.

All-State recognition

Medford-Colby finished a solid 202425 season by earning several awards from the Wisconsin High School Gymnastics Association.

Rothmeier and junior Delaina Meyer received honorable mention in Division 1 on vault. During the regular season, along with Rothmeier’s 9.05 at Ashland, Meyer got as high as 8.65 in the Raiders’ first meet of the season, Medford-Colby’s Hot Cocoa Invitational, on Dec. 7.

On the WHSGA’s final honor roll of the season, issued Feb. 27, Rothmeier’s vault score was tied for 14th among Division 1 gymnasts, while Meyer’s tied for 35th. Bridget Cloud wasn’t far behind with her best score of 8.55 achieved on Dec. 14 in Rhinelander.

Meyer’s name appears on the honor roll for a team-high 8.225 she got on the uneven bars at Eau Claire Memorial-North on Jan. 18. She surpassed that with an 8.35 at the Great Northern Conference meet in Stevens Point Feb. 22.

On the balance beam, Rothmeier’s 9.0 from Jan. 7 in a dual meet with Stevens Point and Veronica Mateer’s 8.95 from a Jan. 16 dual meet in Marshfield are the Raiders’ highest scores on the list. Rothmeier’s 8.95 in the floor exercise from the Ashland meet tied for 40th-best among Division 1 gymnasts this season.

Rothmeier’s 34.175 all-around score against Stevens Point tied for 31st on the honor roll and Meyer’s 33.95 at Eau Claire tied for 35th.

Finally, the Raiders did very well in earning Division 1 Wisconsin Academic All-State Awards.

Mateer and Cloud carry grade point averages that rank among the top 10 in the state and earned gold-level status (4.0 and above). Meyer and Bethany Jokiel earned silver-level status with grade-point averages between 3.75 and 3.999. Making the bronze level (3.5-3.749) were Brooke Buechel, Shayla Radlinger, Lindsey Kauffman, Rylee Hartwig and Rothmeier.

Raylin Rothmeier salutes for the judges after a vault attempt Saturday at the WIAA Div. 1 state competition in Wisconsin Rapids. Rothmeier tied for 15th in the event with a score of 9.0. Rothmeier earned honorable mention All-State accolades in the event from the Wisconsin High School Gymnastics Association and is on the bronze level for this season’s WHSGA Academic All-State team.

Delaina Meyer Hon. Mention All-State Vault Academic All State Silver

Veronica Mateer Academic All State Gold

Bethany Jokiel Academic All State Silver

Bridget Cloud Academic All State Gold