‘Poised’ Gallup reaches state gymnastics meet for GMC co-op
Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau junior Taylor Gallup performed her balance beam routine at last Saturday’s Division Two gymnastics sectional at West Salem High School. Gallup was the lone member of the G-E-T/Melrose-Mindoro/C-FC co-op to earn a berth to the state tournament this weekend after placing second with her floor routine. (Times photograph by Benjamin Pierce)
Coach Hannah Torud and her gymnasts saw an opportunity as the Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau/Melrose-Mindoro/Cochrane-Fountain City gymnastics co-op prepared for their floor routines at last Saturday’s WIAA Division Two sectional meet in West Salem.
Floor was the final event of the day for the GMC squad, so most of the other teams had already set the stage for which scores would be enough to advance to the state championships this week.
With that in mind, G-E-T junior Taylor Gallup performed one of her best routines of the season to clinch an individual berth to the state championship meet, set for 10 a.m. this Saturday at Wisconsin Rapids Lincoln High School.
Gallup’s 9.35 on floor last Saturday was the second-best score in a field of 34 gymnasts.
“Going into floor we knew it was going to be pretty competitive, so we were pretty aware of the standings and what she needed to make it to state,” Torud said of Gallup. “We pulled up our scoring system and saw it pushed her right into second place, so we knew immediately there was only one rotation left and she had punched her ticket to state, so she was really excited.”
A 9.525 was the only higher score than Gallup and was posted by West Salem co-op senior Morgan Siekert to help her team win the sectional and claim a team spot at the state tournament.
The West Salem/Aquinas/Bangor team won with a program-record 142.525 and will be joined at the state tournament by second-place Onalaska/Luther, which scored a 137.275. Bloomer/Colfax took third with their 136, followed by River Falls in fourth with a 135.225 and GMC at 127.95.
Menomonie (120.15) and Sparta (100.35) rounded out the team scores on Saturday.
Gallup’s routine was new this season and has been tweaked around the edges over the course of this winter.
Gallup added a jump series into her floor routine to stack more points together early on, which has kept her 2023-24 scores consistently between 9.2 and 9.4.
“She practices floor every single day no matter if we have it or not, she’s always doing jumps and leaps. She’s super consistent and is just a super hard worker,” Torud said, using the word “poised” to describe the junior’s mentality.
Gallup could find the podium at this Saturday’s state championships, according to her coach.
“It is super, super competitive, but she placed second in the sectional so the goal is definitely to get to the podium. We have all week to prepare and see what we can do to fine-tune a couple more things, but it’s within her reach for sure if we can have a good day.”
Gallup was GMC’s top all-around gymnast on Saturday, taking 10th with a 33.95. Siekert won the all-around competition with a 37.
Amanda Pierson (17th, 32.45) and Abbi Bronsteatter (20th, 30.8) both finished in the top 20 all-around scores on Saturday while teammate Tori Thoma finished 21st with a 30.55.
Pierson led GMC on beam—taking 16th with an 8.35—and also led the co-op with her 8.0 on the uneven bars, good for 13th.
