The Roseville Girls Gymnastics season came to an end this past month after a “really fun” year according to Junior Ellie Lande. They finished their season following “an amazing” section meet, hosted at Roseville for the second year in a row.

Although hosting a meet as big as sections is very challenging, Senior Captain  Naomi Kramer said, “the whole thing went very smoothly. All the gymnasts had an amazing meet and we got one of our highest scores from the season at sections.” Along with getting one of the highest team scores of their season, Senior and Captain Fiya Kinnunen placed seventh place on bars falling just short of qualifying for the state meet.

The gymnasts also expressed their appreciation for having the opportunity to host sections on their home turf. Lande said, “Hosting sections was nice because I think we all felt really comfortable using our own equipment and being in our own gym. It was also very personal to the coaches and athletes because it was our home gym.”

Kramer agrees and added, “We also get to set up the gym so we are much more comfortable with the set up and the equipment or meet isn’t a surprise to us.”

In addition to a successful section meet, Head Coach Maddie Pearson awarded the Coach of the Year title for their section.

Thinking back on the season, one highlight for Kinnunen was the team’s win against Woodbury. She said, “There were a lot of trials and tribulations during that meet with one of our teammates Eva Smyth getting injured and other girls getting rattled” but her and her co-captian Kramer “made sure to ground the team and stay calm which really helped us fight for every tenth (of a point) and win the meet.”

Another highlight of the team’s season was the Lakeville Invite. The varsity team scored their highest team score of the year at the meet. Kramer looks back on the meet as a highlight because, “We were able to have fun while we competed so there was no pressure which made the meet very fun.”

The team grew significantly from their last season, specifically the addition of many younger gymnasts. Lande said, “the roster changed from being mostly high schoolers to (mostly) middle schoolers.”

With changes to the roster, comes changes to team dynamics as well. Kramer said, “the focus switched from learning harder skills to getting the younger gymnasts the basics of gymnastics.”

Lande added it “has been fun to see the younger kids get better and more confident with their skills.”

As the team looks ahead to coming seasons, they have a lot of opportunities as a young, growing team. Lande said she is “excited to get more skills next year and maybe meet some new people”, but is “mostly excited to see what the future holds for our team!”

Kinnunen is grateful for her time on the Roseville Gymnastics team, as “They (the team) truly take you as you are and welcome you to the team no matter your experience. Because of that I got to meet some amazing people and see some very intense competitors.”

What she will miss most about the team “is that they gave me a home to enjoy gymnastics and appreciating all levels of competition.”