GMC gymnasts beat Arcadia co-op at Tuesday triple dual

Senior Abby Miller won all four events and the Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau/Melrose-Mindoro/Cochrane-Fountain City gymnastics team took the top three all-around scores to lead the team past Arcadia last week.

The teams competed in a triple dual at West Salem High School, one that saw Arcadia compete against the host Panthers as well. The Raiders also took fourth in a quad meet at Westby on Saturday.

Both GMC and Arcadia are readying for the conference championship in Westby this Friday, and GMC will start the week by visiting Holmen on Monday.

GMC    131.500

Arcadia   72.225

Miller swept the individual events on Tuesday against Arcadia, winning vault (8.65) and beam (9.15). She was the only gymnast to score at least an 8.0 (8.5) on bars and also took the top spot on floor with a 9.325.

The Raiders saw their best performance on vault.

Arcadia senior Nora Bergerson placed second—her best finish of the day—on vault with an 8.15, and teammate Hannah Gierok took third with a 7.9.

Gierok placed third in bars (7.825) as well to help her to a 30.525, good for a fourth place finish in the all-around scores. Bergerson (29.8) finished sixth in the all-around competition.

Arcadia coach Carley Boos could not be reached for comment on the duals.

Amanda Pierson continues to impress GMC coach Emily Palmen with her development, and Pierson’s 32.375 all-around score was enough for second place on Tuesday. Pierson took second on beam with a new personal best score (9.05), third on floor (8.125), fourth in bars (7.75) and fifth on vault (7.45).

The depth for GMC is a big advantage, their coach said.

“We’ve got a couple girls that because they’re at a younger age we can kind of cultivate the higher end skills. They’re younger so we can start working on them know to get them to a higher level by the time they are juniors and seniors, and a lot of them are at that higher level now.”

GMC senior Trista Thill took third with a 32 and earned the second highest finishes on floor (8.35) and bars (7.85). 

“She’s consistent and we know we can expect a lot out of her,” Palmen said of Thill. “I think we’re gonna try to get a little more consistent in certain skills and clean up some other ones, but she’s definitely in that higher range.”

Abbi Bronsteatter finished fifth with a 30.2, and Tori Thoma took seventh with a 29.7 for GMC. Arcadia’s Zoey George was injured and didn’t finish the meet.

Palmen said her team is focused on consistency ahead of the conference meet.

“We’re trying to clean up our routines the best that we can so that way we know when our girls step on the floor they know they’re gonna have a great routine and hit all their marks,” she said.

WS/Aquinas   134.325

Arcadia             72.225

The hosts secured the top three all-around scores against the Raiders, with Taliya Michelig taking the top spot with a 34.875. 

Teammates Kennedy Garbers (33.275) and Hailey Ives (32.5) placed second and third, respectively. 

The Raiders’ scores listed above were used in the West Salem dual as well, which allowed Hannah Gierok to place fourth and Nora Bergerson to finish fifth.

Westby Quad

Arcadia placed fourth at Saturday’s quad meet at Westby High School and saw two big finishes despite only having two gymnasts.

Bergerson placed second and Gierok took third in the all-around scores to represent the Raiders.

Maddy Pollack of Tomah took first with a 33.775, and Bergerson was just behind her with a 32.25. Bergerson finished second in three events, scoring an 8.15 on vault, an 8.1 on beam and an 8.5 on floor.

Tomah claimed the top team spot with a 121, and Marshfield placed second with a 112.475. The hosts in Westby took third with 111 team points, and the Raiders rounded out the scores with a 63.75.

Gierok had the second best score on floor (8.5) and bars (8.25), also tying for third on vault with an 8.1. Her 31.5 all-around score edged Westby’s Amelia Bishop (31.15) for third overall.