On Friday, Jan. 31st, Winona State University’s Gymnastics team faced the University of Wisconsin – Whitewater Warhawks, where they came out with a team score of 189.625 and many broken records. The Warriors, once again, are revealing the intensity they are bringing to the table this season.
As the meet progressed, Graduate Student Kennedy O’Connor brought home a score of 9.725 on the vault. O’Connor, with the help of her fellow Warriors, broke the all-team vault score with a score of 48.125, which was previously held at 47.785. Along with the record-breaking vault score, third-year Warriors Kaylee Bateman and Jessica Miley both tied for first place on the bars where they shared a score of 9.650. Once more, Winona State’s bar score of 47.550 landed the team the fourth-place spot in Winona State’s record book. With this, the Warrior’s gymnastics team overall score of 189.625 also made its way into the record book. It seems likely that Winona State will continue to keep up these record breaking scores as the season goes on.
“This season has been our strongest start, but our bar is higher than what we are showing right now,” Head Coach Stephanie Geislinger explained. “I hope we continue to make big improvements every single week and we show the community and Winona State what we are made of and where we can go.”
One key reason for these record-breaking scores is the Warrior’s coaching staff continuously tweaking the lineup to fill the holes within all events. As the Warriors prepared for Friday’s record-breaking meet, the gymnasts made several micro-changes in their practice routine and their lineup, such as practicing their bar routines in the McCown Gymnasium rather than their regular practice site. This allowed for the Warrior’s bars practice to feel as similar to their competitive events as possible. In contrast to changes, the coaching staff continued to focus on keeping their athletes calm and confident, in the moment, and supporting their Warriors as they hit their routines during practice and their meets.
The Winona State gymnasts also have certain individual rituals that they utilize to prep for meets. Second-year Warrior Kaelyn Duman illustrated her pre-meet superstitions.
“I have to wear a specific type of socks, and I have to make sure I get my tape at least thirty minutes before the meet starts,” Duman explained.
No matter how the fierce competitors break school records, the Winona State Gymnastics team is only getting stronger and more talented as they progress throughout the season. The team has their last home meet of the season on Friday, Feb. 7th at 6 pm in the McCown Gymnasium where they will face Hamline University.
