Medford/Colby gymnasts wrap season in West Salem
By Nathaniel Underwood
While the Medford/Colby gymnastics team’s streak of consecutive state tournaments was broken at the WIAA Division 1 sectional held in West Salem, the athletes still had their best performance of the season. Their final team score of 135.95 points earned them sixth place at the event where the Chippewa Falls co-op claimed the top spot with 146.95 points and the West Salem co-op took second with a final score of 140.625, just edging out the Hudson Raiders who took third with a score of 140.35.
Despite finishing with a higher team score than they did at last year’s sectional meet, where they took first place in the Division 2 competition, the Medford/Colby squad discovered first hand the difference in competition between Divisions 1 and 2 in West Salem. After qualifying for state as a team for six straight seasons and winning their sectional for five consecutive years, the co-op was bumped up to the sports’ highest division in Wisconsin under the new WIAA rules that take the performance of each program’s last three years into account when assigning teams to divisions, rather than just basing it on enrollment.
The leap meant that there would be no sixth straight sectional championship for the squad, but it did not deter them from having their best day of the season, nor from topping their sectional and state performances from last year. A number of personal career records were set over the course of the day, adding up to their best overall team score of the year. The team was carried by their performance in the beam, where they had the third highest team overall score of 35.550.
Sophomore Raylin Rothmeier qualified for the state tournament as an individual in the vault after claiming fifth place with a score of 9.225. She also finished as the Medford/Colby co-op’s best all around gymnast at the sectional meet, finishing with a final all around score of 34.950 points for her performances in all four events.
Colby junior Delaina Meyer finished as the co-op’s second all-around gymnast. Her best scoring event came in the balance beam, where she earned a score of 8.700. After her first attempt, Meyer was given a score of 8.600, but she bumped herself up several spots after earning an 8.800 on her second attempt, tying her with Superior’s Lacey Skoglund for 16th place.
She also led the team on the bars, finishing with a final score of 8.075 in the event and placing 22nd. This was an improvement over last year’s sectional, where she received a total score of 7.950. There were also marked improvements from the prior sectional meet for Meyer in both the floor exercise and the vault. Meyer captured 26th place in the floor with a score of 8.600 and 27th in the vault with a score of 8.325.
Senior Veronica Mateer was the third all around athlete for the co-op, finishing with a final score of 33.475 across the four events. Her best event at the meet was the beam, where she tied Rothmeier for the highest score on the team with an even 9.000. Both of Mateer’s performances on the beam were given the same score. The difference in the strength of competition between Division 1 and Division 2 was readily apparent, as despite making a marked improvement over her 8.600 score at last season’s sectionals, a performance that earned her a spot in the individual state competition, Mateer was still a few places out from qualifying this season, finishing in eighth place.
Mateer also improved on her scores from the prior sectional meet in both the bars and the floor exercise, taking 26th in the bars with a score of 7.975 and 29th in the floor exercise with a score of 8.500. In the vault, she placed 35th with a score of 8.000.
Junior Bridget Cloud put together a trio of solid performances for the co-op in West Salem. Much like Mateer, the tougher competition in the balance beam meant no repeat state trip for Cloud in the event, despite her posting a significantly better result at this year’s sectional competition. The junior put up scores of 8.95 and 8.75 in her two attempts in the event, both of which outpaced her 8.475 average from last season that earned her an individual state bid. With a final score of 8.850, Cloud took 13th in the competition, putting her just behind West Salem’s Grace Olson with a score of 8.925.
A final score of 8.525 in the floor exercise earned Cloud 27th place and a score of 7.725 tied her with teammate Shayla Radlinger for 28th in the bars.
PREPARING FOR LAUNCH - Veronica Mateer gains momentum before starting her floor routine during one of the co-op’s earlier meets in December.
STAFF PHOTO/MATT FREY
READY TO SWING INTO ACTION - Delaina Meyer, pictured here at a meet in Wisconsin Rapids, led the co-op gymnasts in the bars at the sectional tournament in West Salem.
STAFF PHOTO/MATT FREY
FINDING BALANCE- Bridget Cloud, pictured on the beam in Wisconsin Rapids, took 13th in the event during the sectional meet. It was her best event of the competition. STAFF PHOTO/MATT FREY
