GYMNASTICS

THREE THINGS TO WATCH Remember us?

Whitefish Bay won the Division 2 with a record margin of 4.68 points. This year the Blue Dukes have the potential to score in the 142-point range, which is two points better than last season. Defending all-around champion Aly Yurkowitz is back as is senior Jess Fetting and juniors Ellie Dallet and Abby Timms to give Bay a strong foundation. “The team physically is actually in really good shape,” Bay coach Mary Liniewski said. “A lot of the girls trained in the off-season this year. I know defending their state title was definitely a goal for these girls as seniors.”

New-look Sabers:

With five state titles in the past six seasons, Franklin Combined is a program the competition must worry about every year. That will probably be the case this season, though the team returns just two of its top five performers. Senior Abigail Missiaen and sophomore Krystal Nelson are impact performers, however, with Nelson being one of the area’s top all-around talents.

Who’s next?

Many of the area’s top teams from a year ago are in rebuild mode, or perhaps re-load mode. Arrowhead has mostly freshmen and sophomores. Brookfield East/ Central graduated five of the eight individuals who helped it reach state the past two seasons. Kenosha lost nine seniors but returns the area’s top gymnast, senior Molly O’Boyle, plus returning letter winners Helena Schultz, a senior, and Maya Weyker, a sophomore. Coach Nikki Cooper also hopes for some immediate help from some club gymnasts. “The transition from club to high school can be challenging for some gymnasts and that's our focus this early in the season,” she said.

ATHLETES TO WATCH Ellen Liang, sr., Nicolet:

The Knights standout has qualified for state the past two seasons, making it in the all-around, balance beam and floor exercise as a sophomore in Division 2 and taking ninth on the beam and 12th on the bars in Division 1 last season.

Caitlin Locante, sr., Brookfield Central/East:

The Central student is one of the best around. She took second in the Division 1 all-around at state (37.350) last season and was seventh as a sophomore (36.450).

Cailin Mahoney, jr., Nicolet:

The two-time state qualifier took 10th in the all-around as a freshman in Division 2. She missed state as an all-around performer by one spot last year but finished seventh on the floor and 10th on the vault.

Krystal Nelson, soph., Franklin Combined:

The top returner for the Division 1 defending champion, Nelson qualified for state on the beam, floor and vault and tied for ninth in the all-around.

Molly O’Boyle, sr., Kenosha:

The reigning area gymnasts of the year won the state allaround title in her first season of all-around competition (38.167). She also is the defending champion in the vault (9.9) and floor (9.517).

Alexis Romero, jr., Brookfield Central/East:

The other half of a strong tandem of all-around performers for Brookfield. She took sixth in the all-around (36.767) in addition to qualifying for the floor, bars and vault last season.

Hailey Siegler, sr., Badger/ Burlington/Wilmot:

She is the lone first-team all-conference performer from the area back in the Southern Lakes.

Aly Yurkowitz, sr., Whitefish Bay:

After taking seventh in the Division 2 all-around as a freshman and fourth as a sophomore, the Blue Dukes’ standout won the all-around title with a total of 37.150. It was a dominating performance that included second-place finishes in the beam, floor and bars and a third-place effort on the vault.

Katie Curtis, jr., Watertown:

The defending Wisconsin Little Ten champion made her first state appearance last season in the floor exercise where she finished 18th.

EVENTS TO WATCH Frosty’s Flip Fest, 4:30 p.m. Saturday at Altius Gymnastics:

If you want an earlyseason measure of where teams stand this is it. The field includes Brookfield, Burlingon Co-o, Kenosha and Franklin, among other teams.

Emerald Invite at Waterford, 10 a.m. Jan. 7:

We’ll see what difference three weeks makes when many of the same teams that will be at Franklin compete in their first tournament of the new year.

Arrowhead Invite, 10:30 a.m. Jan 15:

Whitefish Bay will get to see how it fares against a number of Division 1 programs, including Kenosha, Arrowhead, Waukesha and West Bend East and West Bend West.