The BEA gymnastics team had their first meet on Dec. 2. Members of the team are, front row, left to right: Jazmyn Lunz, Haley Kalis, Madison Dulac, Addison Armstrong. Back row, left to right: Lauren Survis, Elizabeth Uecker, Emmalee Laehn, Adrianna Reddick, Tailor Douglas. Missing from the picture are Sidney Eitzmann and Annika Ihle.

The Blue Earth Area Buccaneer gymnastics team is back this winter, hoping to bound into the season with new flips and leaps.

Head coach Rachel Cole, who is commencing her sixth season of coaching, shares every girl from last year’s team has returned for the 2021-2022 season.

This includes team captains Jazmyn Lunz, a senior, Haley Kalis, a junior, and Addison Armstrong, a sophomore.

Other returning members of the team are junior Adrianna Reddick, sophomores Maddie Dulac, Lauren Survis, and Elizabeth Uecker, and freshman Tailor Douglas.

A few fresh faces will join the team this year as well. Seventh graders Sidney Eitzmann and Emmalee Laehn intend to compete, and eighth grader Annika Ihle may join the team.

The well-established team affords the opportunity to build upon skills whose foundations were already set last season.

“We had a good season last year,” Cole notes. “We weren’t sure what to expect because it started so late (due to COVID).”

Cole hopes to maintain steady growth from where the team left off last winter.

“We should be similar to last year,” she predicts. “It might take us a couple meets to get back to where we were. But, we might score a little more as we add in some new stuff.” 

Cole explains gymnastics scores are significantly affected by the difficulty of the skills performed in routines. An athlete may only score as high as their routine’s difficulty allows.

“Our high score last season was 130. That was our goal,” Cole shares. “We were consistently up in the 127-128 range.”

Cole hopes adding higher-level skills will allow the team to boost its scores by a few points. Her goal this year is to reach a score of 132.

Cole plans to work with assistant coaches Beraiah Peterson and Brittany Eckhardt to nurture the team’s confidence this season. Peterson brings several years of coaching and judging experience to the team, and Eckhardt has a childhood background in club gymnastics.

“I am hoping to see improvement on beam and bars, our two weaker events,” Cole says. “We are trying to work on those higher-level skills to make scores go up.”

Cole feels the first step toward achieving this goal is conquering team members’ anxiety about giving new skills a try.

“It’s about building confidence and working on fears,” Cole reasons. “Once we get confident with those skills, we’ll really see scores improve, and we’ll be level with any other teams.” 

Cole lists Waseca, Luverne, and Windom as teams which she expects the Buccaneers to be competitive with this year.

The journey began on Thursday, Dec. 2, at 6 p.m., when the team competed in their first meet of the season. It was a home meet against Luverne, hosted at the Blue Earth Area Elementary School.

“My goal for the first meet is to have everyone back where they were at the end of last season,” Cole says. “It’s about getting strength back, getting rid of fear, and getting back in the groove.”

“The first meet is always a little shaky,” she admits.

Nonetheless, Cole reports the team is looking forward to competing again.

“They’re excited,” Cole says. “They’re nervous about the first meet, but as we get going we’ll be fine.”

“A lot are excited to get working on new skills,” she adds.

Cole says the team will bring many strengths to the table this season.

“We have the potential to get really good at vault,” Cole notes.

She also views the team’s cohesion as a significant advantage.

“They’re a tight-knit group,” Cole says. “They enjoy being around each other, and they encourage each other.” 

This attitude is reflected by the athletes’ parents as well.

“I have really good parent backing, too,” Cole continues. “They don’t complain about anything, and if I need something, they show up and help me.” 

Finally, Cole says the Buccaneers bring significant skill to the table, as well.

“They are a talented group,” she notes. According to Cole, most of the team’s athletes have booked several years of club gymnastics experience.

She says Kalis, Armstrong, and Douglas, who were all-conference gymnasts last year, will be athletes to watch.

The team is slated to compete in 11 meets this season, five of which will be home meets. Following the regular season, Girls Varsity Section is scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 18, and the Girls Varsity State Tournament is scheduled for Friday, Feb. 18, for those who qualify.

“It’ll be a good season,” Cole predicts. “Every year we have to work out bugs. I just want to stay injury-free and illness-free.”

Cole adds, “I only have a couple years left with some of these girls, and I’m hoping for some growth.”