High school gymnastics team could be the best in state history
By Jennifer Eisenbart
Staff writer
It’s a well-known fact that perfection is unobtainable.
Yet, for a small group of young women from three area high schools, hours upon hours are spent each week in search of that goal.
Over the course of the last three months, more than a dozen gymnasts have donned the colors of the Burlington/Badger/Wilmot gymnastics team. The large number of gymnasts – and the depth of talent it has inspired – has put the BBW team in the position to do something that has never been done in the program’s history: win a WIAA Division 1 state team title.
“My goal is for the team to stay undefeated,” said freshman Molly Benavides. “And I want my scores to help the team.”
The BBW squad started drawing attention before the season even began, thanks in part to a talented incoming class but also because of the number of gymnasts returning from last year’s state runner-up team. Coaches around the area recognized the talent the team would have, and at least one coach publicly predicted the squad would break the state scoring record.
That officially happened on Parents’ Night Feb. 2 against Westosha Central/Union Grove – whose coach, Bill Price, was the one predicting BBW could break the record. The team posted a score of 148.975, which broke the old state record of 148.8333, set by Racine Combined in 2004 at the state meet.
“Despite it being at their place and being their Parents’ Night, (the scores) were fair,” said Price after the meet. “They earned their scores.”
Benavides, along with fellow BHS freshman Bailey Fitzpatrick, were two of the high-profile newcomers joining the team this year. The third was Bailey’s sister, Jenna, a BHS sophomore.
The two Fitzpatrick sisters experienced a great deal of success at the club level, but when it came right down to it, the two wanted to have the fun a school team could provide.
“We didn’t really like club anymore,” said Jenna. “We weren’t really having fun with it.”
Bailey added, “I enjoy being in the gym a lot more now.”
Bailey Fitzpatrick and Benavides immediately became all-around competitors for BBW, competing on all four events – the vault, uneven bars, balance beam and floor exercise. Jenna, meanwhile, fought through an ankle injury, starting the season on the bars only but working her way up to balance beam and floor.
With just five varsity spots available on each event, that meant other gymnasts on the team – including a state all-around individual qualifier – were going to be accepting different roles on the team. Rather than working for an all-around spot, returning gymnasts were working just to make the varsity lineup.
For senior co-captain Michelle Dankle, that ultimately turned out to be her decision. After spraining an ankle last year and not competing vault, she lost her chance at a return trip to state as an all-arounder. This year, she decided simply not to train vault rather than risk being injured again.
“I decided I really didn’t want to risk it,” Dankle explained. “It’s definitely different this year. But I almost like it better.”
The team’s other two seniors, Kerry Leonard of Badger and Alice Gordon of Burlington, also accepted different roles. Gordon is competing on vault only, while Leonard is competing on two events – vault and beam.
And yet, egos have taken a back seat to what’s best for the team.
“I definitely knew that it was going to change,” said Gordon, while Leonard added, “without the freshmen, we could (win state), but it’d be a lot harder. We’re glad to have them.”
As a result, an interesting dynamic has occurred. The three newcomers might be experienced club athletes, but they had a lot to learn when it came to high school team gymnastics.
“In high school, team score really matters,” said Benavides. “You try to do good for the team.
“I always liked club, but high school is a lot more fun.”
And Jenna Fitzpatrick said the acceptance was immediately there from the returnees.
“They all seemed like really nice right away. It seemed like they were really ready to accept us,” she explained. “Everyone works so well together. It’s a great feeling when everyone hits their routines.”
That level of comfort between teammates has created a situation where everyone has had a role – albeit not all at the same time. Athletes like Robynanne Scheuerman, a Badger sophomore, has competed vault and floor on and off varsity all season, while Aubrey Weinhammer, a BHS sophomore, had hopes of making varsity in up to three events this year – and competed varsity vault and beam earlier in the season.
Right now, Weinhammer will likely settle for competing as an all-arounder in the junior varsity Southern Lakes Conference meet Friday. And yet, that seems to be just fine.
“With the newcomers … they’re doing really well,” Weinhammer said. “And we need them.”
Need – and want. As Leonard puts it, this is the best year the team has had in terms of simply getting along.
“It’s like family,” she said.
That family wants to put a finish on the season fitting of what’s come already. Starting off the season by scoring higher than it had at the state meet in March, the BBW team has gone nowhere but up. The team score has consistently been in the 145-148 range for the last month, save a few SLC meets where the lineup was shuffled to allow gymnasts a shot at the varsity lineup.
Now with BHS hosting the SLC meet Friday at 4 p.m., it’s time to take performances to an even higher level. The varsity lineup will likely consist of eight to nine gymnasts, with Benavides and Bailey Fitzpatrick doing the all-around.
And it’s put up or shut up time – something the gymnasts are completely aware of. A week after the SLC meet, BHS will host the WIAA Division 1 sectional meet – with a trip to state on the line. In that meet will be Franklin/Muskego/Whitnall/Oak Creek, last year’s state champions and the closest team to BBW this year.
While no one is looking past the sectional – “we can’t get too ahead of ourselves,” said Jenna Fitzpatrick – it’s also true the team has more than just a trip to state in mind. The team wants the state title.
“We have to keep it up,” said Gordon. “We have a lot of potential. A lot of people are looking at us to be the state champs. That’s been our goal since day one.”
For Dankle, it’ll be her final shot at leaving on top.
“It’s the major goal,” she said. “It’ll be pretty amazing. It’ll be my last meet, so it’d be the best way to end it.”
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