River Valley/Barneveld takes first at COVID invite

River Valley/Barneveld hosted the first COVID Invite this past Saturday. Originally the girls were going to travel to Platteville for the invite but at the last minute it was rescheduled for February 6.  Team results for the meet are: River Valley/Barneveld had 123.800 points for first place. Dodgeville/Mineral Point placed second with 122.725 point. Viroqua are placed third with 120.900 points. Southwestern coop placed fourth with 118.350 points. Prairie du Chien/Fennimore placed fifth with 117.925 points.  “What do you do when you get a call at 2:15 on Wednesday afternoon that your meet on Saturday is cancelled?” said River Valley head gymnastics coach Julie Kuhse. “Offer to host the invite for those that can come to River Valley and throw together a five team competition in 48 hours! I cannot thank everyone enough for everything that happened in two days. A huge thank you especially to Brian Krey and Jeni Meuer for setting up the spring floor on Thursday morning. A job we usually have 25 people for, was done by three!” Kuhse continued, speaking of the logistics of such a last minute change, “A lot of the planning was already in place - judges and teams just showed up at River Valley instead of Platteville. We had medals and trophies from prior years for awards at the end of the day, and we have a great group for scoring and announcing who were flexible with the last minute notice.” COVID-19 has necessitated some additional changes. River Valley provided plexiglass desk barriers for the judges. Gymnasts used sanitizer on hands and feet and all mats were sprayed down between events. Teams used the perimeter of the gym to move between events and there was only interaction from a distance. There was no podium, but gymnasts stood in place when announced, and coaches were given the medals to hand out to their team. This meet allowed for seven varsity competitors compared to the usual five, allowing for more gymnasts to perform. Kuhse said, “I hope to see this practice in future invitationals. The top four scores on each event count towards the team score.” River Valley/Barneveld started with the floor exercise. “Several girls were performing new passes and combinations this meet so they were excited for competition to begin,” Kuhse said. “Morgan Bowell led the round, her first floor competition of the season. New skills added: Caitlin performed back full, Sofie and Emily added (advanced high) front fulls. Madison did her back tuck, and Katie changed her leap combinations and placed sixth. McKenzie’s execution was spot on, finishing with our team’s highest score of 8.4 for fourth place.” Individual results for the floor exercise are: Morgan Bowell placed 16th with a score of 7.800, Caitlin Wastlick placed 11th with a score of 8.100, Madison Krey placed 26th with a score of 7.450, Katie Forseth placed sixth with a score of 8.375, Emily Noble placed ninth with a score of 8.150, Sofia Sanftleben placed ninth with a score of 8.150, and McKenzie Kruse placed fourth with a score of 8.400.  “After a bye round, we competed on vault. Vault scores were lower overall the entire day, but consistent,” said Kuhse. “We have improved our landings, and still working on higher level vaults. McKenzie Kruse was our top finisher with 8.15 for 3rd place.” Individual results for the vault are: Lily Borucki placed 30th with a score of 6.500, Morgan Bowell placed 23rd with a score of 7.300, Caitlin Wastlick placed 19th with a score of 7.550, McKenzie Kruse placed third with a score of 8.150, Katie Forseth placed 14th with a score of 7.850, Emily Noble placed 16th with a score of 7.750, and Sofia Sanftleben placed ninth with a score of 8.000.  “Bars was our third event,” said Kuhse. “There are a few extra swings and stops we are working out. Katie Forseth joined the varsity bar line up for this meet. Sofia’s giants were the best I’ve seen them this year, scoring our top spot with 7.6 for second place overall. Madison Krey narrowly missed medaling with a 7.25 for seventh place.”  Individual results for the uneven bars are: Katie Forseth placed 27th with a score of 5.275, Morgan Bowell placed 15th with a score of 6.375, Caitlin Wastlick placed 15th with a score of 6.375, Madison Krey placed seventh with a score of 7.250, Emily Noble placed 10th with a score of 6.975, Sofia Sanftleben placed second with a score of 7.600, and McKenzie Kruse placed 12th with a score of 6.800.  “The final round was beam,” said Kuhse. “Lily Borucki led us off with only one fall, still scoring her career high with 7.05. Madison Krey is two for two - two no fall routines in two meets. McKenzie Kruse competed her back handspring on the beam for the first time with our high team score of 7.9 for third place.” Individual results for the balance beam are: Lily Borucki placed 17th with a score of 7.050, Morgan Bowell placed 25th with a score of 6.600, Madison Krey placed 13th with a score of 7.150, Katie Forseth placed 10th with a score of 7.450, McKenzie Kruse placed third with a score of 7.900, Emily Noble placed eighth with a score of 7.550, and Sofia Sanftleben placed 10th with a score of 7.450.    Individual results in the all around are: McKenzie Kruse placed second with a total score of 31.250, Sofia Sanfteleben placed third with a total score of 31.200, Emily Noble placed tenth with a total score of 30.425, Katie Forseth placed 15th with a total score of 28.950, and Morgan Bowell placed 17th with a total score of 28.075 “Overall the meet was a success,” concluded Kuhse. “Everyone was safe and was able to compete. It will be nice to get into a routine with regular competitions. It’s hard to practice for an extended period of time without an evaluation of your efforts.”  This week the girls traveled to Prairie du Chien on Monday night.