Milbank Gymnasts Punch Ticket to State

The Lady Bulldogs gymnastics team is headed to the state meet. The team, as well as all eight individual gymnasts, has earned a spot in the State Class A meet to be held in Aberdeen this Friday and Saturday, February 14-15.

Milbank placed fourth in the team standings at the Region 1A meet in Madison on February 6 with 129.475 points. Their score put them fifth in the two regions in Class A. The top three teams in each region automatically qualify for the state competition. The final three teams qualify by wildcard.

“Region 1A has typically been a stacked region,” said Milbank’s head coach, Amber Fraasch. “Four of the top five teams have come from Region 1A in the past few years.”

The eight team members and the events they will compete in include: Maddie Gustafson (all-around, vault, bars, beam, floor); Tori Hooth (vault, floor); Greta Snaza (all-around, vault, bars, beam, floor); Madison Mathews (bars, floor); Dani Yamaura (all-around, vault, bars, beam, floor); Laney Forrette (vault, floor); Rylie Overby (vault, beam); and Aubrey Fraasch (bars).

Aubrey Fraasch earned a personal best score on bars and was the top place winner for Milbank. She received seventh place at the region meet. “We pulled out some skills and left others in an attempt to qualify girls and boost our team score,” stated Coach Fraasch. “Although beam is still the make or break event for us, the bars will determine if we can compete with the top teams.”

Gustafson performed a no-fall beam routine and earned a personal best score of 8.0. Overby and Yamaura also had no-fall routines for the team. “Overall this was a fairly good beam day as we only counted one fall,” noted Fraasch. “We are scheduled to compete in this event first on team day. This event will set the tone for the day and it will be necessary to place in the top four at State.”

Yamaura earned the highest place for Milbank on beam at sixth place. Yamaura also led the Lady Bulldogs with a 12th place finish on floor. “Our nerves and desire to hit with perfection got the best of us on floor,” added Fraasch. “We had good routines but gave away a few too many tenths. “Competing with this level of nerves and adrenaline takes practice, and I think it will help us going into the state meet.”

In the vault competition, Snaza led the team with an eighth place finish. In the all-around competition,Yamaura was the top place winner for Milbank at 11th place and Gustafson earned a personal best score.

Complete results for Milbank from the Region 1A meet:

Team totals – Deuel, 142.875; Madison, 134.50; Estelline-Hendricks, 133.125; Milbank,129.475; Sisseton, 115.225; Britton-Hecla, 113.675; West Central/Montrose, 109.50.
Uneven Parallel Bars – 7. Aubrey Fraasch, 8.175; 18. Madison Mathews, 7.375; 19. Greta Snaza, 7.35; 22. Maddie Gustafson, 7.125; 26. Dani Yamaura, 6.575; 28. Laney Forrette, 6.40.
Balance Beam – 6. Dani Yamaura, 8.575; 10. Maddie Gustafson, 8.00; 18. Greta Snaza, 7.50; 19. Rylie Overby, 7.30; 25. Laney Forrette, 6.95; 41. Tori Hooth, 6.025.
Floor Exercise – 12. Dani Yamaura, 8.475; 14. Maddie Gustafson, 8.40; 15. Greta Snaza, 8.35; 17. Laney Forrette, 8.25; 20. Madison Mathews, 8.025; 21. Tori Hooth, 8.00.
Vault – 8. Greta Snaza, 8.75; 12. Dani Yamaura, 8.675; 16. Tori Hoo1th, 8.60; 17. Maddie Gustafson, 8.575; 22. Laney Forrette, 8.30; 24. Rylie Overby, 8.225.
All-Around Competition – 11. Dani Yamaura, 32.30; 12. Maddie Gustafson, 32.10; 13. Greta Snaza, 31.95; 21. Laney Forrette, 29.90.

Varsity team members – (l. to r.) Front- Laney Forrette, Dani Yamaura, Maddie Gustafson, Rylie Overby, and Aubrey Fraasch. Middle – Tori Hooth, Madison Mathews, Lindsey Hartman, and Greta Snaza. Back – Coaches Karla DeVaal, Amber Fraasch, Kelly Wollschlager, and Amy Yamaura.