Team titles for Franklin/Muskego, Elkhorn Area highlight WIAA state gymnastics

WISCONSIN RAPIDS - Franklin/Muskego and Elkhorn Area both edged out WIAA team gymnastics titles in Division 1 and 2, respectively, to lead area performances at the state meet at Wisconsin Rapids Lincoln High School this weekend.

Here are the area team and individual highlights:

Franklin/Muskego back on top of D1

A season after falling just short of a second-consecutive title by a 146.117-145.317 margin to Verona/Edgewood, Franklin/Muskego was back on top with a second team title in three seasons Friday.

"All five of these seniors were at the state meet last year, and it was frustrating to come in second, they all really like to win and they’re all really competitive," F/M head coach Katie Moore said. "it was March last year when we started talking about what we were going to do to get ready for this season, and be prepared to come back to state, because they just really knew Verona was going to be a tough team to beat, and they just really wanted to win."

F/M finished ahead of V/E by a score of 147.7167-146.8167 for the program's second title in its existing format. Previously as a co-op of Franklin, Muskego, Oak Creek and Whitnall, the program had won eight team state titles since 2011. The Oak Creek/Whitnall program finished third on Friday with a team score of 144.1001.

The team title effort for F/M was led by senior Ellie Johnson on the vault (9.6667) and senior Kaylee Stoeger on bars (9.65), beam (9.4167) and floor (9.3). Stoeger led the all-around effort with a score of 37.7834, followed by Johnson's 36.7334 and sophomore Grace Hibler's 36.3667. Other standout individual contributions included senior Leah Pereira's 9.25 on vault and 9.3333 on bars, and sophomore Sophia Emanuelson's 8.95 on the floor.

Franklin/Muskego's Stoeger, Johnson finish second and third in D1 individual all-around

F/M seniors Stoeger and Johnson carried momentum from the team win into a strong showing in the individual state competition on Saturday, finishing second and third, respectively, in the all-around. Stoeger's 37.7334 included a 9.767 on bars (1st), 9.35 on vault (6th), 9.317 on beam (3rd) and 9.3 on the floor (5th). Johnson's 37.6834 included a 9.667 on vault (2nd), 9.483 on bars (2nd), 9.267 on the floor (7th) and 9.267 on beam (4th). Moore lauded the efforts of both to excel as both members of the larger team effort and individually as well.

"We got up on Saturday morning and they said ‘Well we got the big one, whatever we do today is just fun.’ It was just all team all the time with them, so to see great individual athletes that just shine so great individually just embrace the team effort, that’s so fun," Moore said.

Fellow F/M senior Kayla Schuerman also medaled on beam, finishing tied for sixth with a score of 9.1167.

"She was a real role player for us in her first couple seasons, and this year really, the confidence just blossomed and she really became a performer," Moore said of Schuerman.

Elkhorn Area wins first program title in D2

Elkhorn Area similarly pulled out a team title by a margin of less than a point, surpassing West Salem co-op 140.6835 to 140.2335. It was led by performances including junior Kaylee Frank on vault (9.1833) and bars (9.3667), junior Kate Krauklis on beam (9.4167) and senior Jenna Heindselman on the floor (9.3667). Frank led the all-around effort with a score of 36.85, followed by Krauklis' 35.1, sophomore Norah Adams' 34.1667 and sophomore Ava Zepezauer's 33.3501. The top three in particular were critical components in the state title effort according to head coach Amanda Merlo.

"They were the first three nines of the meet on the floor, which I think put us above in that respect. Kate had an excellent team performance, getting one of the top scores for team day on beam and nailing her routine," Merlo said. "Kaylee also had a great performance on bars that kind of put us a little bit ahead of the other teams."

Elkhorn had high finishers in the individual championships on Saturday as well. Frank tied for first in the vault (9.4167), took third on bars (9.1833), placed 13th on the floor (8.8667) and finished 24th on beam (7.85) to round out a 35.4 all-around that tied for eighth. Floor qualifier Heindselman won the event with a score of 9.3 as well.

Merlo said the title brings a great deal of excitement to the program that she hopes will build momentum in years to come.

"Hopefully we’ll continue to motivate the girls and want to be back there next year. Hopefully we’ll grow our program and want more girls to be a part of it," Merlo said.

Mukwonago/Kettle Moraine's Burge wins two events

Mukwonago/Kettle Moraine senior Sam Burge went out on a high note in the individual championships Saturday, winning both the beam (9.5333) and floor (9.4667) events. She also qualified on bars, finishing 11th (8.9667). The wins on floor and beam represented significant improvement for Burge from her junior year, in which she finished third on the floor (9.383) and 11th on beam (9.15).

Other area individual podium highlights

• Oak Creek/Whitnall junior Erica Miner finished 6th in D1 on bars (9.2167) and on the floor (9.2833) to highlight a performance that also included a 9.3167 on vault (8th) and 8.3167 on beam. Her all-around score of 36.1334 netted her ninth place.

• Oak Creek/Whitnall sophomore Ava Shotola finished 5th in D1 on beam (9.2333) in her state debut.

• Oconomowoc all-around qualifying junior Bella Perez Emory finished fifth in D1 in AA (36.7166), which included a 9.5333 on vault, 9.3 on bars, 9.0833 on floor and 8.8 on beam.

• Nicolet senior D2 vault qualifier Ezzy Mauermann finished third in the event with a score of 9.3667.

• Nicolet senior D2 beam qualifier Alyna Hildenbrand finished tied for fifth on beam with a score of 9.1333.

• Whitefish Bay senior D2 all-around qualifier Essence Burrows finished 6th on vault (9.25) as part of a performance that also included an 9.0333 on beam, 8.5167 on bars and 7.7 on the floor. She finished 16th in the AA standings (34.5).

Full results from the WIAA state team and individual gymnastics meets are available on the WIAA website.

Team results

Division 1

1, Franklin/Muskego, 147.7167; 2, Verona/Edgewood, 146.8167; 3, Oak Creek/Whitnall, 144.1001; 4, Chippewa Falls/McDonell Central Catholic, 142.4499; 5, Hartford, 138.55; 6, Janesville Craig, 138.4832; 7, Hudson, 134.4333; 8, Homestead, 133.8002; 9, Sun Prairie West/East, 133.1002; 10, Grafton/Cedarburg, 131.0335.

Division 2

1, Elkhorn Area, 140.6835; 2, West Salem Co-op, 140.2335; 3, Mount Horeb, 138.75; 4, Whitefish Bay, 136.6832; 5, Reedsburg Area, 135.65; 6, Dodgeville Co-op, 134.7667; 7, Onalaska/Luther, 134.5832; 8, West Bend West, 133.5998; 9, Medford/Colby, 133.5832; 10, Ashland/Drummond/Mellen, 123.1166.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Titles for Franklin/Muskego, Elkhorn Area lead WIAA state gymnastics