Reagan Johnson / Winonan

The Winona State University gymnastics team hosted the Brooke Baures “Smile On” Memorial Invite on Friday in McCown Gymnasium.  The meet honored former Warrior gymnast Brooke Baures, who died in December 2014.

“‘Smile on’ is a slogan we’ve used as Brooke’s legacy from the get go. It came about because she was known for her great smile. It was very infectious,” Winona State gymnastics head coach Beckie Rolbiecki said. “We wanted to use this memorial as a reminder that her legacy lives and that she is in our hearts.”

Senior Brooke Hiestand said Baures’ personality made a huge impact on those around her.

“Brooke left a huge legacy in this gym and around the community. Everyone knows who she is. She had an infectious personality,” Hiestand said. “I think having these teams come together and realize that gymnastics is our main goal, but life is so much more important and just to have fun with it.”

Senior Jade Donaldson said Brooke was always smiling so this meet was a good way to honor her.

“To have this meet and being able to go into it confidently for her, it was a lot of fun to be able to do that for her,” Donaldson said.

Rolbiecki said another reason this meet was so important was to let the Baures family know the team cares about them and respects what they are going through.

“We want to always honor her legacy by hopefully doing something like this every year,” Rolbiecki said.

The Warriors took second place at the meet with a score of 184.325 behind the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater (187.325). University of Wisconsin-Stout took third (181.050) while Gustavus Adolphus College finished fourth (177.500).

Hiestand and sophomore Katie Pipp both claimed event titles. Pipp took first on the uneven bars with a score of 9.625 and Hiestand, who is recovering from a foot injury, took the floor title with a score of 9.475.

Winona State posted their best score on vault, 47.275, and tied for the fifth-best in program history. Sophomore Eboni Jackson placed second in the event with a 9.650, the Warrior’s best score of the meet. Jackson also took fourth place on balance beam with a score of 9.575 and fourth in All-Around with a 37.150.

Other notable performances were by sophomore Cassidy Kleven, who took third on balance beam with a 9.600, and sophomore Katie Carling, who finished fifth on floor with a 9.350.

Rolbiecki believes the meet was a step in the right direction for the Warriors.

“We did some things really well. We had some really good, strong routines,” Rolbiecki said. “When we see 9.5s this early in the season, it’s a testimony to the girls’ hard work and their perseverance.”

Rolbiecki said she challenges her gymnasts to grow from week to week.

“If we can get stronger and get a better score and better performance than we had last week then we’re headed in the right direction,” Rolbiecki said.

Hiestand said overall it was a great meet for the team.

“I think the important part is that we grew from the meet so we’re constantly growing. I think in other years we get our highest score right off the bat and it’s great to see us progress every week” said Hiestand. “There is still a ton of areas we need to fix like try to not count any falls if possible but we’re getting better”.

“We had a huge improvement from last week. We had a lot more confidence for this second meet,” Donaldson said.

Rolbiecki believes the team will be a success this year because they do not have a weak event.

“In past years, our beam squad has been a struggle and this year we have a very givable beam squad,” Rolbiecki said. “Once we get the new freshmen jitters out of them it’s going to really take off because we have some really strong performers.”

Rolbiecki added the teams biggest strength is their unity and being a close-knit team that works really well together.

Hiestand said there is one objective this season: make it to nationals.

“Our first goal is to make it to nationals and not only make it to nationals, but be in the top three teams at nationals because we’re very capable,” Hiestand said.

Hiestand added they see their biggest competitors in their conference and that is helping them prepare to make it the national meet.

“The good thing is that we beat La Crosse at our first meet so I think that we’ve proven to ourselves that we deserve to be in those top three spots at nationals,” Hiestand said.

As for her personal goals, Hiestand said she first wants to make it to nationals as a team, but to also try to make it to the meet on her own.

Donaldson also said her first goal is also to help her team to nationals.

“As my last year as an all-arounder, I want to keep doing all my events clean. My goal is to help my team make nationals. Being an all-arounder I have a big part in that,” Donaldson said.

Winona State travels to Gustavus for a 6 p.m. meet Tuesday in St. Peter, Minn.