Miller cracks top 10 in vault, top 20 in all-around at state gymnastics

Abby Miller finished her junior year of gymnastics in the state’s top 10 in vault and in the top 20 for all-around scores at last Friday’s Division Two individual state gymnastics meet in Wisconsin Rapids.

The Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau/Melrose-Mindoro/Cochrane-Fountain City gymnast cracked the top 10 in the vault on Friday with a 9.017, tying her with two other gymnasts for ninth place. Sparta’s Ella Hemker won the event with a 9.383.

The Melrose-Mindoro junior had her best performance of the season in the event. Her coach applauded her technique.

“She just had a lot of power, more than she usually has,” Britton said. “She got a lot more height on this one, which helped her score. There was some tough competition and a lot of the scores were close, but she did really well and put forth everything she had in that vault.”

Miller placed 22nd in beam with an 8.25, more than a full point behind Emily Craker of Reedsburg’s winning score of 9.533.

Britton thought her gymnast recovered well in the beam, saying Miller had a strong response after falling off the beam on her first jump.

“It kind of threw the rest of her beam off a little bit, but she brought it back strong with a really, really good dismount with a backhand spring full, and that was beautiful. She just had that one little hiccup at the beginning that kind of threw her routine off,” Britton said.

Miller scored an 8.35 in bars and an 8.933 in floor as part of her all-around score but wasn’t eligible to place in either event at the meet due to not qualifying in the events at sectionals. Her all-around score of 34.55 was good for 20th on Saturday.

Britton was proud of the junior, who hasn’t missed a state meet in her three years with the team. She expects Miller to make a strong run at making it a perfect four-for-four next year.

“I definitely think she will make it next year, and I hope for her to make it in the all-around again and hopefully have the chance to go in three events or maybe all four,” Britton said. “She’s definitely got a good chance at doing so. ”