The pressure is off for the Aberdeen Central gymnastics team.

Having secured a team berth in the Class AA state meet for the first time since 2021 and putting seven gymnasts through to the individual competition, the Golden Eagles are just there to have a bit more fun.

That’s the mindset the Golden Eagle gymnasts are adopting as they head into this weekend’s state competition, which will be held in Pierre Friday and Saturday.

“That was our goal at the beginning of the year,” said Central coach Mickey Everson of qualifying for the state meet. “That’s always our end goal.”

Consider it mission accomplished. The Golden Eagles earned their spot by virtue of their team score at the Eastern South Dakota Conference meet, which doubled as the state qualifier after the Sioux Falls programs had their season reinstated at the last minute.

In addition to the team competition, Central will send Madelyn Walberg (vault, bars), Johanna Jarrott (vault, bars, beam), Alexis Bomesberger (vault, beam, floor), Addison Everson (vault, bars, floor), Breckan Santjer (vault), Izzy Loecker (bars) and Regan Lust (beam, floor) to the individual events.

With those berths secured, it’s all fun and games now.

Coach Everson referenced Golden Eagle captain Addison Everson’s comments after Central’s Last Chance meet at the beginning of the month when the junior said, in essence, there’s nowhere else to go.

“If she, as a captain, has that mindset,” Coach Everson said, “they’re probably all thinking that. Now we just go and perform. They’ve got everything they need.”

The state meet will cap a season that saw significant improvement across the board for the Golden Eagles.

Everson said she brought a long-standing tradition she keeps with younger gymnastics to the high school ranks. That tradition states that any gymnast who conquers a new skill gets to ring a cowbell. The rest of the team, when that cowbell rings, stops what they are doing and applauds the newfound mastery.

“I’ve never had the bell run so much in a season,” Everson said. “They were constantly motivated to learn new skills.”

Occasionally, the sound of that bell can trigger negative emotions, but Everson said this season, the undertones were all positive.

“They fed off each other’s energy through the whole season,” she said. “Instead of being competitive with each other, they cheered each other on.”

That, in turn, has led to a family-like atmosphere in the gym.

“When we were in Watertown, they had some interview questions for Arrow TV,” Everson said. “One of them was, ‘What has high school sports done for you?’ Three of them said, ‘I get to be around the people I love every day,’ or ‘I get to be around my second family.’ … They became very close. I think that’s what they’ll remember more than what score they got on a beam routine.”

The Class AA team competition will begin just after 3:30 p.m. Friday (Class A will compete during the morning). Saturday’s individual events will follow a similar schedule with Class AA beginning around 3:40 p.m. (Class A will compete in the morning session). All events will take place at the T.F. Riggs High School gym in Pierre.

Gymnasts from Britton-Hecla, Deuel, Milbank and Sisseton will be competing in the Class B portion of the meet.