Note: Sophomore Mckenna Heer and seventh-grader Jaelee Grupe were inadvertently left off the list of Britton-Hecla gymnasts competing in the state meet in the initial version of this story. The story has been updated to include this information.
Team titles will be on the line Friday, and individual championships will be determined Saturday when the State Gymnastics Meet takes place at Golden Eagles Arena.
The Class A team crown has been won by either Madison or Deuel for nearly the past three decades. The last time one or the other was not the champion was 1994. Since then, Madison – the defending champ – has won 21 state titles, including 16 in a row during one stretch, and Deuel has won the state championship seven times.
Deuel is coming off a third-place finish at the Region 1 meet.
“My goals for the team are that they just go out and do their best,” said Deuel coach Caitlin Steffensen. “There are six teams in our state within two points and it’s going to come down to whichever team puts out their best that day.”
The Cardinals are led by Sophomore MaKia Moe who earned the top individual event scores in the uneven bars (9.275) and vault (9.525) on her way to winning all-around honors at the region meet. She will be joined by four other teammates, including junior Hope Bjerke, freshman Adysyn Wiesner, eighth-grader Hannah Cutshaw, and seventh-grader Brooklyn Tanner.
Steffensen is excited that her young squad qualified as a team.
“We are excited to have made it as they had to improve and upgrade their routines to score higher at the region qualification meet,” Steffensen said. “We are in a rebuilding year with many young gymnasts and to place at state this year would be rewarding. Individually, we hope they come back a second day and perform well enough to earn some individual state medals.”
Fellow Northeast Conference member Britton-Hecla also qualified as a team and will have seven members competing at the state meet. The Braves are led by juniors Kaegan Fredrickson and Sterling Mertens who both qualified for the all-around in the individual competition.
Other members include senior Maggie Kilker, junior Emma Kraft, sophomore Mckenna Heer, freshmen Abby Lee and Ava Teveldal, and seventh-graders Kennady Van Lith and Jaelee Grupe.
While the Braves would like to improve on their team placing from last year, coach Angela Grupe isn’t too concerned about the scores.
“Our team goals are always to try to hit our routines. Score isn’t our focus; a hit is a hit,” Grupe said. “As a team, we’d like to improve on our eighth-place finish from last year.”
There are several other NEC gymnasts who will be among the 89-person field in the individual portion of the Class A meet starting at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday. They include Hannah Brown and Macyn Dunnihoo of Milbank Area, and Cristal Lopez, Izzy Metz, Colie Schultz and Olivia Deutsch of Sisseton.
Aberdeen Central has a pair of gymnasts who will be competing in the Class AA individual portion of the meet at 10 a.m. Saturday that features 82 athletes.
The Golden Eagles will be represented by senior Masyn Schutter and sophomore Izzy Loecker.
Schutter qualified for the vault, floor, and bars, while placing in the top-40 in those events at the Eastern South Dakota Conference meet. Loecker qualified in the bars.
Golden Eagles coach Mickey Everson said both girls want to end the season on a high note.
“(Masyn) wants to get through without (her emotions) hitting her until the end,” Everson said. “Izzy is young. She’s still a sophomore and so this was, I think, a surprise for her. For her, she’s got a new skill on bars that she did right before ESD and so in practice this week she’s just been drilling that, and so her goal is to just hit that routine and get it all in there and do well.”
Everson said that Mitchell, Harrisburg, O’Gorman, and Watertown are the top teams to watch in the Class AA field.
O’Gorman edged Mitchell for the state championship last season.
Action begins at 10 a.m. Friday for the Class AA team competition, followed by the Class A team competition at 4:30 p.m.
