By Mike Ramczyk
Against some of the best competition in the state, the Burlington/Badger/Wilmot gymnastics squad stepped up with its best team score of the season Jan. 7 at the Pam Beck Emerald Invite in Waterford.
Fueled by strong performances from Jessica Zeitler and Mia Trent, who placed third on beam and fifth on vault, respectively, BBW scored a 135.325, good for fourth place behind Kenosha, Brookfield and Franklin.
Those three teams, some of the elite programs in the state, floored the competition with a 146, 141 and 140.
Second-year BBW head coach Andrea Hegemann said the meet had its ups and downs, which has been the season’s theme.
She’s encouraged the team still managed a season high despite plenty of mistakes.
“When you have those three big teams there, that is a huge accomplishment for those two girls (Zeitler, Trent) to help boost their confidence as we get into the busy stretch of our season,” Hegemann said. “We also had a season-high team score, and considering the number of falls and misconnections we counted, it is exciting to know we still have a lot more to give.”
Zeitler continued her overall strong run this season, placing eighth on bars and earning a season high on beam.
Zeitler’s all-around score of 35.15 was seventh.
Her 9.425 wasn’t far off the first-place score of 9.5 from Kenosha’s Molly O’Boyle.
“Being new to high school this year, Jessica is really starting to find her groove and has so far placed at both invites and won multiple events at our two duals.”
Hegemann said competing against elite teams like that was a bit intimidating for the team, but the standout individual performances kept the team morale strong.
On the floor event, Kenzie Terry and Hailey Siegler each placed 13th with a 9.075.
On beam, Union Grove’s Allie Miller placed 17th with an 8.55, as did Trent.
Siegler scored a 7.925.
Trent was 10th on bars with an 8.45.
Thanks to injuries, various school functions and vacations, BBW has yet to field a full roster.
The fact the Demons still scored a 135 just two days after scoring a 131.7 in a dual against Elkhorn is encouraging, Hegemann said.
“It’s kind of exciting because we know we haven’t been at full strength yet,” she said. “Would I like to be hitting every meet? Of course, but the big thing to take note of is that we are improving every meet and we are still working on or adding in new skills that will only help our scores.”
“In past years we’ve had individuals the team peak early, and then it becomes more of a mental game as to whether or not we can keep up that pace into February.
Burlington battled Kenosha Tuesday night and travels to Franklin for an invite Saturday.
Hegemann likes where the team and individual scores are at this point, and she said a slow, steady pace is best during the long season.
“I think with the makeup of this team, it is really in our best interest to slowly improve and continue to add new skills,” she said. “Hopefully I’m right on that one. I guess we won’t know until conference and sectionals comes around.”
BBW 131.7, Elkhorn 115.2
On Jan. 5 at Karcher Middle School in Burlington, the Demons cruised to a home victory and improved its dual meet record to 1-1.
Zeitler led the way with a 32.9 in the all-around, which was good for first place.
Siegler won floor (9.075) and beam (8.15), and Terry took second on floor with an 8.875.
On vault, Mari Trent placed first with a 9.0. Zeitler won bars with an 8.65, and Mia Trent was second with an 8.45.
On beam, Miller and Brooke Flesch each placed second with a 7.95.
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