Gymnasts 2nd at Dodgeville Invite

The gymnastics sectionals are more than two weeks away. But Sauk Prairie got a pretty idea of what its sectional will be like on Feb. 8. The Eagles went to the Dodgeville Invite, a meet that included seven of the eight teams that will be in their sectional. And Sauk Prairie had to leave feeling awfully good about what lies ahead. The Eagles finished second at the meet, narrowly missing out on the title. Host Dodgeville finished first with 136.575 points, while Sauk Prairie was second at 136.350. Platteville’s co-op team was a distant third at 133.90, while Southwestern’s co-op (131.950) and Westby’s co-op (131.40) rounded out the top five. “This meet was very important for us, as there were several teams there from our sectional and we weren’t sure where we stood against them,” Sauk Prairie coach Justine Anderson said. “It was reassuring to see that even without a perfect meet, we were a few points ahead of our sectional competition. The team left with a lot more confidence for the postseason.” Sauk Prairie’s McKenna Breunig was second in the all-around with a 36.0, while teammates Claire Hartman (33.30) and Lyla Annen (33.10) were ninth and 10th, respectively. Kylee Ballweg was 13th in the all-around (32.650) and Lauren Uselman was 16th (32.025). “All five girls competed in the all-around and are all continuing to show consistency and composure in competition,” Anderson said. “They seem much less rattled by mistakes than in previous years and are able to have fun, but focus when it matters.” The Eagles opened on the balance beam, and Breunig posted a first place score of 9.40. Sauk Prairie also counted scores from Ballweg (8.250), Annen (8.20) and Uselman (7.975). “Three of the five girls stuck their routines with McKenna coming within 0.025 of the school record,” Anderson said. “Kylee has had a tough time with beam for the last few meets and had a really rough warmup, but composed herself and competed really well.” Breunig was third on the balance beam (8.70), while Ballweg was sixth (8.50), Annen was 10th (8.30) and Hartman was 11th (8.20). Breunig was third on the floor exercise (9.125), while Hartman was seventh (9.0), Uselman was 13th (8.80) and Annen was 17th (8.60). And on the vault, Breunig was fourth (8.775), while Hartman was seventh (8.40). The Eagles also counted scores from Ballweg (8.125) and Annen (8.0). “Kylee (Ballweg) continued to compete well and earned her personal best all-around, which is a big success for her, as she is not usually competing in the all-around,” Anderson said. “She also had a personal best and first ever varsity podium finish on bars. “McKenna earned another 36.0 all-around and was on the podium for all events, including a beam win. Lyla has been such a surprise this season. She is consistently earning 8’s on all events. We have learned to rely on her routines, and we know exactly what to expect in competition from her — which really matters.” The Eagles also edged Monona Grove, 135.725-135.300, on Feb. 7. “We barely eked out the win, but a win is a win and they left motivated to do even better on Saturday,” Anderson said. Breunig won the all-around with a 36.250, while Hartman was fourth (33.625) and Annen was fifth (32.10). Breunig was first on the bars (9.025), while Annen was fourth (8.20), Hartman was sixth (7.975) and Ballweg was seventh (7.825). “The girls were not swinging quite as well as we usually see them swing, plus one of Kylee’s grips ripped during warmup,” Anderson said. “Instead of panicking, she used Claire’s old grips and made it work the best she could and had a decent routine.”  Breunig was also first on the beam (9.30), while Uselman was fifth (8.875), Hartman was sixth (8.650) and Annen was seventh (7.950). Breunig was first on the floor (9.125), while Hartman was fourth (8.750), Annen was sixth (8.50) and Uselman was seventh (8.450). And Breunig was second on the vault (8.80), while Hartman was fourth (8.250), Addisyn Ranzenberger was fifth (8.150) and Ballweg was eighth (7.90). “Vault was a little weird,” Anderson said. “The landing mat kept sliding and we had a lot of falls.  “McKenna was last and unable to land both vaults, but on her second vault, the bottom mat moved so much — despite us standing on it — that we were able to claim an equipment failure. She was able to re-do her second vault, and totally crushed it! It was the mental shift for everyone that we needed to have a solid floor and beam set.”