State Gymnastics Recap

Posted on Sunday, February 17, 2008

History was made over the weekend at the State A Gymnastics Meet in Brookings. The Madison Bulldogs made national history, while a seventh-grader from Deuel nearly shattered every single record in the book.

Madison made national history with its 14 consectutive state title on Friday, setting a new meet scoring record with 141.896 points. Runner-up Britton-Hecla finished with just over 129 points.

Head coach Maridee Dossett say setting the national record is an emotional event.

Dossett says having the national record is something that will stay with her for a long time. She credits the opening of the Madison Gymnastics Center as a big part of the teams success.

Senior Gymnast Katie Breuer said the team didnt talk much about the record, but rather focused on helping each other.

South Dakota High School Activities Association assistant executive secretary Ruth Rehn was on hand to witness the national record be set. Rehn was instrumental in getting high school gymnastics started in South Dakota in the 1970s and is retiring this summer after 34 years with the association. She says many people dont understand what Madison has accomplished.

In the all-around and individual competition on Saturday, Deuel gymnast Sam Wiekamp made an impressive debut. The seventh-grader shattered three records and became only the fifth gymnast in South Dakota history to win all five events: all-around, floor exercise, uneven bars, and vault. Kassie Finck was second in the all-around while defending champ Katie Breuer placed third.

In "AA" Action, Mitchell took the team title while Kernel Brook Cersosoimo repeated as the All-Around champion.