By Mike Ramczyk
Sports Editor
For the first time all season, both Bailey Fitzpatrick and Molly Benavides were firing on all cylinders for the Burlington-Badger-Wilmot gymnastics squad.
The result was a resounding victory at the Spartan Invite in Madison, and the Demons now find themselves at the top of the heap looking down on the competition.
The scary thing about the 144-point performance, Burlington’s season high by four points, is that the team was far from perfect and encountered some falls.
“We haven’t had a meet yet where we landed all vaults, stayed on the beam and hit all floor/bars routines,” said BBW coach Diane Biedrzycki. “We set goals for one event at a time. When we approach each event with its own set of goals, we can focus on one thing at a time, and the end result is usually pretty positive.”
BBW won going away with a team score of 144. The event, which is held at Madison Memorial High School each year, featured four-time defending Division 1 champ Franklin, Sun Prairie and local stalwart Waterford. Franklin took second with a 139.15.
Fitzpatrick and Benavides led the way. Fitzpatrick won the all-around with a 38.275 with victories on bars (9.65) and beam (9.65).
Benavides was second on the all-around (37.775) and won vault with a season-high 9.7. It was only the second time Benavides has competed on vault this season.
The senior also won floor with a score of 9.625. Fitzpatrick was right behind her with a 9.5.
Less than a year after a pretty severe ankle injury kept Fitzpatrick out of the team state competition, she keeps winning the all-around week after week.
“Bailey worked extremely hard in the offseason to get in great shape and has upgraded her skills on all her events,” Biedrzycki said. “While it would be easier for her to take some of her more difficult skills out of her routines, she has set a high standard for herself and has goals to compete at the collegiate level.”
While Benavides’ 9.7 is a very high score on vault, Biedrzycki said it will only increase the rest of the way.
“It was great to see Molly vault well this weekend,” she said. “She just needs to get her reps up in practice to be even stronger and more consistent with her vault as we finish the season.”
Mia Trent added solid scores of 8.7 on vault and 8.55 on bars.
Hailey Siegler contributed a strong 8.85 on floor and an 8.65 on beam.
The score of 144 is the state’s second-highest mark this season behind Arrowhead, which is at 144.625.
While most other top programs have only scored in the 130s this season, Biedrzycki said it will take a high score of 144 or better to win sectionals or state.
“Some teams aren’t competing their full lineup, maybe due to injuries or whatever, and some, even us, haven’t added all their difficulty in routines,” she said. “At sectionals, it will take a mid-140 to advance.”
Sectionals are Feb. 28 at Mukwonago High School.
As for this week, Burlington hosted its last home dual Tuesday and travels to the Kenosha Invite Saturday.
“That will be a strong field of six teams, including Arrowhead, who we haven’t seen yet,” Biedrzycki said. “We have a couple skills we are adding yet, and we just need to get more consistent with hitting 5-for-5 on all events.”
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