That’s all that kept gymnastics team from qualifying for state
By Mike Ramczyk
Correspondent
All season long, the Burlington/Badger gymnastics squad has been without two of its top varsity performers, and just recently, the short-handed group hit its groove with a conference championship and its two best scores of the season back-to-back.
But when you don’t have your full squad, every little slip-up is magnified, and even the most talented gymnasts usually need a little wiggle room to achieve their best team scores.
That was the case last Thursday night at a WIAA Division 1 gymnastics sectional at Mukwonago High School.
BBG had to count a few big falls on bars, beam and floor, and Mukwonago/Kettle Moraine counted just a few less as the Indians snuck by the Demons, 137.225 to 137.125, to secure the second state qualifying spot behind sectional champion Franklin/Muskego (147.2).
It was sweet revenge for Mukwonago, which lost to Burlington by a tenth of a point, ironically, two weeks ago at the Nordy Invite in Mukwonago.
Losing in any shape, form or fashion can be a real kick to the gut, but losing by an impossible margin like one-tenth of a point can be unfathomable.
“Sad, mad, frustrated, in disbelief…you name it, we felt it,” BBG head coach Andrea Chart said Tuesday via email. “To lose by a tenth is heart-breaking. To lose by a tenth when we just beat them by a tenth at their invite a few weeks ago almost seems surreal. It felt like something out of a movie and unfortunately we weren’t on the good side of the movie.”
Chart believes the Indians put together a good meet, much like her girls, but they did just a bit more overall.
“We didn’t get to watch a ton of their routines but it seemed they were putting together a pretty good meet,” Chart said. “They had a couple falls I caught and we did as well. With a meet of that magnitude you’re bound to have a lot of weird nerves that lead to some crazy things. We of course want the ‘perfect’ meet but that’s not realistic, so we counted a few big falls on bars, beam, and floor.”
Wylde Chupich led BBG with a fourth place all-around finish, and Addie Welch, Kylie Kramer and Lauren Milligan took eighth, ninth and 10th, respectively.
But Chupich’s 36.25 was far from a season high.
However, it was good enough to qualify for the Individual State Tournament this weekend in Wisconsin Rapids.
Chupich qualified on vault, bars, floor and all-around. She will look to become the first Burlington gymnast to win state since the Big Three of Bailey Fitzpatrick, Jenna Fitzpatrick and Molly Benavides back in the mid-2010s.
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