Burlington-Badger team surprises with effort in sectional meet
By Mike Ramczyk
Correspondent
It hasn’t been the easiest of seasons for the Burlington-Badger gymnastics squad.
Normally a state tournament staple, the team and head coach Andrea Chart have had to deal with losing a lot of their best athletes to the second-year team from Wilmot-Union Grove-Williams Bay.
Couple with that the fact that COVID cut short this season with fewer practices and competitions, and the Demons have been anything but striving.
With scores in the 130s all season long, BBG, known to most as BBW from the past few decades, was in real trouble and jeopardy of being shut out from team state for one of the only times in the last decade.
Burlington has enjoyed tremendous success in the past decade, including a string of 10 straight conference crowns and four consecutive state runner-up finishes.
On Saturday in Hartford, senior Ava Trent and company made sure Burlington returned to where it belongs – to the state meet in Wisconsin Rapids.
Thanks to a near-perfect performance where they didn’t have to count any falls, the Demons scored a season-high 143 – one week after scoring a 135 at conference – and will compete for a team state championship Saturday afternoon in Rapids.
Chart, who was a gymnast for former head coach Diane Biedrzycki and later her assistant coach, has effectively navigated this season, her sixth as head coach.
“Oh God, I’m so surprised,” Chart said a few hours after learning Burlington was going to state. “Our season has been rough, and just when I thought we were improving, we got a 135 at conference last week, so they pulled off a good one today.”
“The girls got it together and pulled off the ultimate meet. No falls from any girl on all four events. We beat our previous season high by almost four points.”
While BBG got second place on every event, WUW, or Wilmot, won every event and finished with a 145 to take first place.
To read the complete story, including the sectional scores posted by the local gymnasts, see the Feb. 25 edition of the Burlington Standard Press.
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