Eagles’ gymnasts continue to soar

Sauk Prairie’s girls gymnastics team won a pair of Badger Conference meets last week. The Eagles rolled past Milton, 134-3950-118.0250, on Jan. 7. Sauk Prairie then defeated Watertown, 133.350-122.025, on Jan. 11. “The girls are competing with so much poise and confidence already this season, and are really having fun while doing it, and those two things together can make for a very successful season,” Eagles coach Justine Anderson said. “As a team, they are the tightest group of girls I have coached and you can tell their genuine support for each other is only making them better with each competition.” Here’s a recap of the Eagles’ two wins.   SAUK PRAIRIE 134-3950, MILTON 118.0250 McKenna Breunig set a new school record in the all-around competition with a 35.4750 score. Claire Hartman was second in the all-around (33.650), and Addisyn Ranzenberger was third (29.80). Breunig was first on the vault with an 8.50, while Hartman was third (8.1750), Lyla Annen was fifth (8.0250) and Ranzenberger was sixth (7.9750). Breunig was also first on the bars (8.5750), Hartman was second (8.1750), Kylee Ballweg was third (7.8750) and Annen was fourth (7.7950). Breunig had a tremendous performance and was first on the beam with a 9.40, while Ballweg was second (8.60), Hartman was third (8.550) and Lauren Uselman was fifth (7.90). And Breunig won the floor exercise (9.0), while Hartman was second (8.750), Uselman was third (8.5750) and Ranzenberger was fourth (8.5250). “This was our first conference dual of the season and our first meet after winter break,” Anderson said. “I was happy to see them ready to compete and even score 2.0 points higher than before the break!  “We had several falls on the beam, but the girls still scored higher because the quality of the rest of the routines had improved. Girls were hitting their connections and bonuses, and it made up for the falls — though it would have been incredible if they had stayed on. It was exciting and reassuring to have our first conference win under our belt.”   SAUK PRAIRIE 133.350, WATERTOWN 122.025 McKenna Breunig set a new school record in the all-around competition for the second meet in a row, with a score of 35.950. Claire Hartman was second (33.475) and Lyla Annen was third (31.80). “This is the second meet in a row that McKenna has set a new record for the all-around, breaking her own record from last year,” Anderson said. “She did not get a PR on any one event at either meet, but yet had very solid performances on all four events, continuing to push her all-around score up.” Breunig was first on the bars (8.625), while Hartman was second (8.350), Lyla Annen was third (8.125) and Kylee Ballweg was fourth 7.925. Breunig was first on the balance beam (9.375), Ballweg was second (8.375), Lauren Uselman was third (8.250) and Hartman was fourth (8.150). Breunig was first on the floor (9.20), Hartman was second (8.725), Uselman was third (8.675) and Ranzenberger was fifth (8.525). And on the vault, Breunig was second (8.750), Hartman was third (8.250), Ranzenberger was fifth (8.050) and Ballweg was seventh (8.0). “This was our first home meet of the season and it was nice to have so many fans in the stands — lots of alumni, peers, and extended family packed the bleachers,” Anderson said. “Vault started out much better than (against Milton) and we had four out of five girls hit both their bars, beam, and floor routines, so it was a very strong night. “There is nothing that compares to the energy of a home meet and it helped the girls score even higher than (Milton) and much higher than we were scoring at this point last season. At only four meets into the season, we are already breaking a 135.0 with room to grow. Girls are getting close to or surpassing their personal records at every meet and they are showing a lot of consistency in routines.”