By MIKE KEMMETER
of The Gazette
Despite receiving high scores early in the season, the Stevens Point Area Senior High gymnastics team didn't want to stand pat. With the stretch run in sight, the Panthers added new twists to their routines during a two-week stretch earlier this month.
After unveiling the more difficult routines a week ago, SPASH nailed them at the Wisconsin Valley Conference meet last Saturday and won its second straight conference crown. The team's score of 138.275 was its highest of the season.
"If you had a sheet of our scores, they'd be the same now as they were in the beginning of the year," SPASH coach Mary Olszewski said. "It just took them a meet or two to get (the new skills) down. Now we've got our new routines, they're more difficult and we're doing better.
"We're trying to do what we have to, to get where we want to be. The girls worked hard those two weeks."
The area that the Panthers are strongest in, the balance beam, is one area where SPASH's gymnasts increased difficulty. Olszewski said individuals are also doing more difficult flips on the vault and more difficult tumbling passes on the floor exercise.
"I feel good our team is not satisfied with doing the same 'safe' routines. They know they can do more and it is exciting to see," Olszewski said after the team first used the new routines at the Eau Claire North Invitational two weeks ago.
Since routines are judged on a scale of one to 10, difficulty can play a big role in a judge's decision, especially if only a few tenths of a point separate one place from the next.
"It's very important because you can get bonus points up to eight-tenths of a point on difficulty," said SPASH senior Tracy Knippel, who won the WVC floor exercise event with a 9.325 score.
While Knippel came away with the floor title and finished fourth in the all-around with 34.550 points, the Panthers really set the tone for their second straight conference title on the balance beam - the first event of the meet.
SPASH finished one-two in the event and also had a sixth place finish in the seven-team meet. Senior Kimberly Jo Barden finished first with 9.325, Nikki Cruz was second with 9.275 and Anne Simonis took sixth with 8.550.
"We went first which is even more nerve-racking," Olszewski said. "The difficulty they put in, they nailed it.
"We knew we had a good chance to take first place at the meet, but everyone was a little nervous going into conference with a three-way tie," said Olszewski, whose team entered the meet deadlocked with Wisconsin Rapids and D.C. Everest. "The girls handled the pressure very impressively."
The Panthers also did well in the uneven parallel bars, with two finishers in the top three. Simonis was second with 8.678 and Knippel finished third with 8.600. Barden was also fifth in the all-around with 34.275.
Barden, who started in gymnastics 15 years ago at three years old, said less experienced teams have a tougher time adding difficulty to their routines.
"We have a lot of difficulty that we can put in," Barden said. "It's a good goal to get new skills for upcoming meets."
Those two meets Barden talks about are sectionals and state. The Panthers finished seventh last year but are hoping to make a move up in the standings. The top two teams at Thursday's Neenah sectional qualify for the team state competition, the top three all-around scores move on and the first five finishers in each event qualify for state. The individual meet will be held Friday, March 3 at Wisconsin Rapids Lincoln High while the team competition takes place the next day.
"We're hoping for top five (as a team)," Olszewski said. "We competed against a lot of the top teams. I think we have a good chance to be in the top five at least."