The Winona State University gymnastics team wrapped up their regular season on Friday, Feb. 28 in Menomonie, Wis. as they battled University of Wisconsin – Stout, University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire and Hamline University, finishing third overall with a team score of 182.725.

Before the Warriors’ last regular meet of the year, junior Shelsea Zehr talked about how the team feels as they entered the weekend.

“Throughout the season, our team has been progressing and improving each meet,” Zehr said. “We are excited for this last chance to prove ourselves before going off to Regionals.”

Although the team has a losing record this season, they show what tough competitors they are as their overall team score has been improving every meet.   

Zehr also talked about how the team is continuing to grow together.

“There is always room for improvement in our team,” Zehr said. “After each meet, our coach likes to tell us to focus on improving by one tenth, to find one thing that we can do better for the next meet.”

For the team, it is important that they continue to grow even though they do not have any more regular season meets.

Competing on the floor this weekend, Zehr set a new best with a score of 9.675 taking fourth in the event.

Zehr also had a strong performance on the bars this weekend as she scored a 9.225, taking seventh.

As for vault this weekend it was first-year Allison Crescimanno who came up big for the Warriors in the event scoring a 9.375 taking sixth place.

Wrapping things up for the Warriors were two of their seniors Kelly Johnston and Sunny Hasebe, who both competed well on the beam. Johnston scored a 9.475 taking fourth place and Hasebe ending with a 9.425 finishing sixth in the event.

Looking at the Warriors’ upcoming schedule, they are about to begin their tournament run. Zehr described what the team is looking forward to as they begin to prepare.

“At Regionals, all eight teams from our conference are there competing. We are going to have a much larger crowd than normal, so it will be fun to feed off of the audience’s energy and hopefully use it to our advantage,” Zehr said. “It is going to be a very fun atmosphere, and it should be a great experience for the freshmen who have not yet competed at this kind of meet.”

As for the Warriors they will next travel to Eau Claire, Wis. as they take the floor again this Saturday, March 7 in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Championship and NGCA Regionals, competing at 4 p.m.

The opinions expressed in this paper are not necessarily those of Winona State University, the Minnesota State Colleges and University system, or the Winona State University student body.