Six in a row! Midgets' gymnastic dynasty dominance continues at WDA tournament

Feb. 21—DICKINSON — As most could have predicted, Dickinson Midgets pulled off the six-peat of the Western Dakota Association (WDA) championships, capitalizing on home advantage Friday afternoon.

Dickinson's team score of 150.075 gave them a comfortable lead over the latters. Century took second and Jamestown third, with a score of 141.275 and 140.900 respectively. With the region title in the bag for the Midgets, eight state qualifying gymnasts will don the orange and black at state, as announced on Monday.

"It was great to get that nice score, Casey Berry, DHS head coach, said. "The girls all had a pretty good meet overall, we just had a couple of misses here and there, but overall they did really good and it was a good feeling to get that with a lot of the judges that will be judging the state meet."

Each one of the gymnasts that competed for Dickinson on Friday have gained entry to the state championship. Elizabeth Karsky led the charge taking the gold in the competitions all-around, followed by Rylee Olson and Jamestown's Julia Skari tying for silver.

Karsky placed first on uneven bars (9.5), second on her beam routine (9.425) and third on floor (9.675). Ranked first in the state in the all-around and in vault, the eighth grader did as expected — and some more. Her all-around score of 37.900 was almost a full point above Olson's 37.075.

Olson placed first on floor (9.750), with a near flawless and difficult routine and had two third place finishes on vault and bars.

"I am just really happy," Karsky said. "I knew it was close between me and Rylee so I was really excited to find out who it was going to be and it was really close."

Reygan Strommen, Brooklyn Wariner, Aspen Roadarmel and Brooke Dolyniuk took fourth through seventh all-around placements and Anna Clifton 14th place finish secured her a spot at state — ranking 27 out of the 30 qualifying placements.

"It is really important [to have a strong mentality]," Karsky said. "You have to be able to fall and get back up, finish your routine and know that it will all turn out good in the end."

Strommen took close second on vault (9.4) and floor (9.7) and surpassed Karsky by less than a point to take first on beam (9.450). Wariner and Roadarmel would garner performances worthy of a spot on the winners podium, with Wariner receiving a bronze on beam (9.125) and Roadarmel's routine on bars granting her the silver with a score of 9.425.

Junior Shayla Sandstrom will be joining her teammates at state, contesting on bars, placing 33rd in the state.

"I like to make sure that our practices are pretty structured, keep everyone on pace and keep that expectation level high for all of them," Berry said. "Coupled with that is the girls working up to the level that they know I expect from them and their willing to do it really keeps the boat running."

Berry coaching abilities was insurmountable to the team continued success, earning her the spotlight and the WDA Coach of the Year award.