Lady Bulldog Gymnasts Hit the Road Before Rare Home Appearance

The 2025-26 gymnastics season is swooshing by. The Milbank team has a busy schedule, but most of their meets are on the road. If you want to see the Lady Bulldog gymnasts perform, don’t miss their only home varsity meet on Saturday, December 20. Cheer them on starting at 11 a.m.  Catch the middle school team at their only home meet on Friday, December 19. Start time is 4:30.p.m.

On Thursday, December 15,  the Lady Bulldogs traveled to Aberdeen for the Hub City Invitational against AA schools Harrisburg, Watertown, and Aberdeen Central.   Fellow A school Sisseton also joined the competition. Milbank finished in fourth place with a team score of 127.15. Harrisburg won the meet with 144.55 points. Watertown was second at 139.5. Sisseton was third at 133.5, and Aberdeen Central put up 126.65 points.

Starting for Milbank on the Vault, Nuria Rodriguez Duron performed a clean handspring to score 7.6 and take 27th place. Right behind her, Aria Prasnicki scored 7.85 to land in 26th place. Marley Pinkert earned a personal best score of 8.00 to take 24th place. She also finished in a tie with her teammate Jada Leigh Wellnitz. Raina Untalan presented her handspring full. She scored an 8.4 to claim 14th place. MHS Coach Kelly Wollschlager said, “Macyn (Dunihoo) finished strong for MIlbank. She tried a new vault of ¼-1 ¼ and scored an 8.8.”

There was tough competition on the Bars, but according to Wollchlager the girls tried new skills and gained confidence with their stuck landings. Marley performed a kip in her routine for the first time and, despite a fall, she scored 5.25 to take 25th place. Raina had a solid no-stop routine and a stuck landing to score 5.85 to secure 24th place. Nuria attempted her long hang kip connected to her fly away. She scored 6.05 for 22nd place. Jada Leigh scored 6.7 for 20th place. Aria claimed 16th place with a 6.95. For a change of direction, Macyn added a switch kip, and it paid off. She scored 7.05 to capture 14th place.

Milbank counted only two falls on the Beam, and Wollchlager stated, “The girls increased their team beam score by five points since our first meet.” Nuria started the rotation with a clean no-fall routine. She scored 7.8 for 22nd place. Marley followed with a 6.35 for 28th place.  Aria had solid jumps that helped her score 8.0 for a personal best and  20th place. Jada Leigh scored 6.25 to collect 29th. Macyn performed a connected back walkover and added a new jump up mount. She scored 8.15 to take 17th place. Raina finished with a new personal best of 8.55 by performing solid jumps and a stuck round-off to place 14th.

“We finished off with the Floor Exercise,” commented Wollschlager. “The  team showed many improvements with their energy and enthusiasm while showing off their dance.” Jada Leigh scored an 8.15 for 24th place.  Aria scored 8.2 for 23rd.  Marley scored 8.3 for 21st. Nuria scored 8.3 for 19th.  Macyn scored 9.0 for seventh. Raina led the team with a new personal best of 9.05. She took sixth place.

In the All-Around competition, Marley scored 27.90 for 21st.  Nuria scored 29.80 for 18th.  Jada Leigh scored 29.10 for 19th.  Aria recorded a new personal best score  –over 1 point higher. She scored 31.00 for 16th place. Solid beam and floor scores helped Raina also record a personal best score of 31.85. Macyn scored 33.00 to take ninth place.

What’s next? The Lady Bulldogs are competing in the Britton-Hecla Invitational on December 16. Milbank’s only home contests this season will be on Friday, December 19-20. The middle school meet starts at 4:30 p.m. on Friday. The varsity invitational starts at 11 a..m. on Saturday, December 20.

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