THE CHAMPIONSHIPS: The 44th Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association Gymnastics State Championships will take place Friday and Saturday, March 7-8, at Wisconsin Rapids Lincoln High School in Wisconsin Rapids, Wis. A revised schedule for the tournament will be implemented for the first time. The team championships will begin Friday at 2 p.m. The individual competition will begin at 11:10 a.m. Saturday. Ticket prices for the championships are $6 per session and are available at the door.
ON THE AIR: The gymnastics State Championships highlight show will be aired on FS Wisconsin Tuesday, April 15 at 10:30 p.m. For dates and times of all WIAA programming on FS Wisconsin, please check local listings or visit the WIAA Media Center website for the most current schedule.
CHAMPIONSHIPS FORMAT: Ten teams will compete for the Division 1 and Division 2 team titles. The top two teams from each of the five sectionals in each division qualify for the meet. The top five individuals in each event and the top five all-arounds at each sectional qualify for the State Individual Championships.
COMPETING TEAMS: There are 10 teams that compete for the team State championship in both divisions. The teams qualifying in Division 1, with the number of times the programs have qualified for the team competition in parentheses, are Arrowhead (9), Burlington/Badger/Catholic Central/Wilmot Union (6), Eau Claire Memorial/North (10), Franklin/Muskego/Oak Creek/Whitnall (7), Homestead (22), Madison Memorial (17), Middleton (18), Sheboygan South/North (10), Stevens Point (19) and West Bend West (5). The 10 teams competing in Division 2 are Antigo (11), Ashland (14), Mount Horeb (27), Platteville/Belmont/Lancaster (5), Rice Lake/Cumberland (9), River Falls (24), River Valley (6), Viroqua/Cashton/Hillsboro/North Crawford (2), Waterford (13) and Whitefish Bay (19). There were 78 teams in the Tournament Series this year, including 40 in Division 1 and 38 in Division 2.
TEAM TOURNAMENT HISTORY: The WIAA has sponsored the State Gymnastics Championships since 1971. The event featured one division from 1971 through 1977. The State tournament series competition was divided into two divisions in 1978. Waukesha West/North/ South has won the most team championships with seven. River Falls is next in the gold trophy standings with six. Brookfield Central, De Pere and Whitefish Bay, which doesn’t include two with Shorewood as a co-op, are tied for the second most with five. Mount Horeb, Nicolet and Southwestern/Cuba City have won four titles.
LAST YEAR: The Franklin/Muskego/Oak Creek/ Whitnall co-op won the Division 1 team championship for the third straight season with a score of 150.516. The Burlington/Badger/Catholic Central/Wilmot co-op placed runner-up for the third year in a row as well with a score of 148.001. Individually, Bailey Fitzpatrick of the Burlington/Badger/Catholic Central/Wilmot co-op won the all-around competition with a score of 38.216 to notch her second straight title. She also was the champion on the uneven bars for the second straight season with a score of 9.6. Molly Benavides of Burlington/Badger/Catholic Central/Wilmot won the vault with a score 9.667 and shared the title in the floor exercise with a score of 9.6. Caroline Smith of Madison Memorial won the balance beam with a score of 9.583. In Division 2, River Falls won its sixth team championship with a score of 142.416. Mount Horeb finished runner-up with a score of 141.183. Individually, Riley Claude of River Falls won both the all-around competition and the uneven bars for the second year in a row. She scored a 36.767 in the all-around and a 9.533 on the bars. Haley Hentrich of Platteville/Belmont/Lancaster won a pair of events in 2013, claiming the title on the balance beam with a score of 9.033 and sharing the floor exercise with Lauren Faust of Mount Horeb with a 9.25. Emma Madsen of Holmen won the vault with a 9.4.
RETURNING CHAMPIONS: Each one of the events in Division 1 will feature its defending champion returning to defend their crowns. Junior Bailey Fitzpatrick of Burlington/Badger/Catholic Central/Wilmot has again qualified in the uneven bars after winning the event the past two seasons. She is also the two-time defending all-around champion, but she will not compete in that multi-event competition this season. Fitzpatrick’s teammate, junior Molly Benavides will be returning to a pair of events, attempting to retain the titles she has acquired. She attempts to win her third straight championship on the balance beam. She also returns for another attempt at the title in the floor routine. Senior Caroline Smith of Madison Memorial captured the gold medal on the balance beam in 2013 and is back to defend the title. In Division 2, junior Lauren Faust of Mount Horeb returns to retain the title she shared last season in the floor exercise with Haley Hentrich of Platteville/Belmont/ Lancaster, who has since graduated. Faust also hopes to regain the form that won her the balance beam title in 2012.
FOLLOW STATE MEET ON SOCIAL MEDIA: Receive updates of the State Gymnastics Tournament on the WIAA State Tournament Twitter account @wiaawistate with the hashtag #wiaawigym. Also follow daily recaps on Facebook.
NEED THE QUALIFIERS?: All participants and rotations of qualifying teams and individuals are available on the WIAA website. Access the gymnastic homepage and select the State Tournament Information section in the right column.
NEED RESULTS?: The quickest way to attain results will be to access the Tournament Information section from the gymnastics homepage on the WIAA website.