HARTFORD — Watertown’s gymnastics team posted a season-best total in a 130-114.775 win over Hartford in a Wisconsin Little Ten Conference dual meet Tuesday.
“The Watertown Goslings did it,” Watertown co-gymnastics coach Laurie Gallmann said.
“Our goal for the year was to score over 130 and break the school record of 133. The key, the girls were relaxed and didn’t show a lot of stress about this meet. They went out there and did what they had to do. They cheered their teammates on and came together as a team. There really wasn’t a huge standout at this meet. They all did well and scored well.”
The Goslings opened with a 32.55 score on the vault. Ellen Vitale (8.1), Ellie Mandel (8.15), Sarah Cornell (8.0), Angela Breunig (8.3) and Emily Schueler (7.9) all competed for Watertown.
“A solid score,” Gallmann said. “(Co-coach Paula Mandel) decided to save Ellen’s tuck vault for this Saturday, so she threw two handsprings instead.”
Watertown posted a breakthrough score of 31.95 on the uneven bars. Marisa Ladwig (7.45), Vitale (7.825), Breunig (8.0), Schueler (8.0) and Mandel (8.125) competed for the Goslings.
“The girls have been working hard perfecting and adding skills to this event,” Gallmann said. No, we are not satisfied yet, never. We will be pounding this event in practice until those big skills are working for us. Angela and Emily got their first 8.0 scores of the year (on this event) with their efforts.”
The Goslings had another breakthrough on the balance beam with a 33.375 score.
Cornell (7.775), Breunig (8.4), Schueler (8.35), Vitale (8.375) and Mandel (8.25) competed for Watertown.
“Now for the reason that we hit 130 — it was our beam team score of 33.375,” Gallmann said.
“We changed some things around for some of the girls so that they would feel more relaxed with their routines. They had a confidence about them tonight that I don’t usually see on this event. They didn’t hold back, which made their skills easier to execute. We did have to count three falls (1.5 points), but their beam routines had less wobbles and disconnections.
“Sarah had one fall so I knew she will be in the 8s. Angela had one fall. Emily had one fall. Ellen had a no fall routine. Ellie had one fall. When you add 0.5 to their score for a fall that is pretty impressive. The bottom line, you stay on and the team is in the 130s every time.”
Watertown finished with a 32.875 on the floor exercise. Cornell (6.75), Schueler (7.6), Breunig (8.175), Mandel (8.175) and Vitale (8.175) competed.
“Our last event proved to be interesting,” Gallmann said. “Hartford doesn’t have a spring floor, therefore we watered down all of our floor passes. We didn’t want anyone getting hurt at a dual. The girls actually scored pretty decent with what they threw.”
Schueler (31.85), Mandel (32.7), Breunig (32.875) and Vitale (32.475) posted all-around scores for Watertown, which hosts an invitational Saturday at 11 a.m.
JV wins: Watertown’s JV beat Hartford 108.35-93.85.
Vault — Dalia Montalban 7.2, Gwen Zubke 6.8, Marisa Ladwig 7.85, Juliena Herritz 7.5, Ricky DeCono 7.8. Total 30.35.
Uneven bars — Kelsie Jacobs 4.7, Gwen Zubke 5.7, Ricky DeCono 6.4, Juliena Herritz 6.5, Sarah Cornell 7.2. Total 25.8.
Balance beam — Jordan Knope 5.35, Ricky DeCono 5.5, Marisa Ladwig 6.15, Juliena Herritz 6.35, Gwen Zubke 6.95. Total 25.2.
Floor exercise — Juliena Herritz 5.9, Gwen Zubke 6.1, Dalia Montalban 6.2, Marisa Ladwig 7.3, Ricky DeCono 7.4. Total 27.0.