As a season progresses, teams are expected to see improvements. Ask Winona State University gymnastics coach Beckie Rolbiecki if she thinks her team has improved and she will give an enthusiastic, ‘Oh yeah.’
Rolbiecki continues to be impressed by this year’s squad, which set a season-high score of 186.375 at the Best of Minnesota meet, finishing second to the University of Minnesota (194.275).
“That was the most exciting meet of my life,” Rolbiecki said. “For us to go up there and put those numbers up in that environment was something.”
Freshman Amanda Cotter narrowly missed a school-record, scoring a 9.6 on the beam, missing the record by .050.
What excited Rolbiecki the most was the composure of her young team in front of thousands of fans at the UM Sports Pavillion.
“I thought we went in there and competed like an upper-classmen team,” Rolbiecki said. “It said something to me to see them compete like that in front of all those people.”
Melissa Baudhuin competed in only her second all-around competition on Saturday, finishing fourth.
Baudhuin has been battling tendonitis all season and has been unable to compete in the all-around competition until now, but showed that she does well when it matters the most.
“She’s been physically beat up all season, so we’ve backed off on some events,” Rolbiecki said. “But she sure rises to the occasion when we let her go.”
At UW-Eau Claire, Baudhuin won the beam and the floor and took third in the vault to help her take the all-around with a score of 36.075.
She had a setback on bars, placing 10th, but according to Rolbiecki, was able to maintain a level-head to win.
“She was rough on the bars but was able to pull through for us,” Rolbiecki said. “She did a phenomenal job in her first all-around collegiate meet.”
WSU beat UW-Eau Claire 179.274-175.400, as WSU got wins from Alexandra Nugent in the vault (9.375), Cotter on the bars (9.075), and Baudhuin in the beam (9.350), the floor (9.325) and the all-around (36.075).
Nugent was right behind Baudhuin in the all-around, scoring 35.550 as she maintained her steady level of competition this season.
“It was a nail-biting meet for us because we didn’t start off as well on the floor as we expected,” Rolbiecki said. “We were able to come through once again on the beam, taking the top six spots.”
The beam is typically one of the hardest events for athletes to do well on, but WSU has shined in the event this year.
“It’s been one of our strongest events all year,” Rolbiecki said. “It’s a credit to the girls for working hard on them.”
WSU will have its first home meet since Jan. 17 when it takes on UW-Whitewater on Sunday.
The Warriors have won their only two home meets this season and look forward to staying home this weekend.
“It will be nice to be home for a change,” Rolbiecki said. “It’s time to put on a show for our own fans.”