DELANO – The season for the Watertown-Mayer/Mound Westonka gymnastics team has been focused on one simple goal – keep their streak alive. The Royals picked another conference title this season. They extended their dual winning streak to 95.
Just one thing was missing for the Royals and they took care of that as they won their seventh-straight section title by posting a team score of 147 at the Section 5A meet Thursday night.
“It’s just amazing all the progress we’ve made over the course of the season,” Anja Gilbert said. “We have worked our butts off for this. For it to all come together today was just awesome. We had a ton of energy and so much fun. That’s what it’s all about. It’s really exciting.”
“It feels good,” Anna Mielke added. “I’m very excited for state. It’ll be fun to go back. It’s been a weird year. We’re very excited and I’m really proud of how far all the girls have come.”
While this season has certainly been a unique one for the Royals as well as other teams across the state, their identity hasn’t changed one bit. While the talent is clearly there, it’s the chemistry and relationships the Royals have as a team that stands out each time they compete.
“They’re just a great group of kids,” Royals coach Steve Hangartner said. “They don’t want any drama. They don’t want anything distracting them from what they want to do.”
The Royals came into the Section 5A meet as heavy favorites one again. Although a weird feeling at times, W-M/MW simply did what they always do to take care of business.
“I think it’s super important to not put all that mental pressure on yourself,” Mielke said. “That’s when you start to freak out. It’s just another meet. Just do what we’ve trained to do in practice. We’ve done these routines over and over. It’s just about having fun and putting what we have out there and doing our best.”
It all comes down to one thing for the Royals and that’s simply just having fun. That sounds simple but it’s the driving force for the Royals during their impressive run.
“We do our best when we’re having fun,” Gilbert said. “Our best meets are when we are always having energy and excited to be there.”
While having fun is one key for the Royals, their depth is another. With constant friendly competition each day in practice, it’s no reason the Royals keep improving year after year.
“We’ve been limited on our meets this year so every meet we had they tried to take advantage of trying to improve as much as you can,” Hangartner said. “Our girls have been really stepping up. They’re working hard and pushing each other. Their hands are all ripped up and bleeding. I told them one practice that maybe they should be done and they still kept going.”
While depth gives the Royals options, it also takes away the chance for each athlete to compete in every event. That’s no problem for W-M/MW as they know it’s all about the team.
“It’s hard when you got girls on the bench scoring 9.2s and 9.3s,” Hangartner said. “That’s hard. They all push each other and make each other better. It’s a friendly competition where you’re always trying to push the person behind or in front of you to better them. That makes you better.”
While reaching the state meet is nothing new for the Royals, it’s a bit more special this year knowing everything they’ve accomplished and had to go through this year to get to where they are at.
“It does,” Mielke said about this one meaning a bit more. “For myself, becoming part of the older percentage of the team, it feels really cool to be able to realize this run we’re on. Our team has a really strong history. To be part of that is awesome.”
“I think sometimes we don’t realize how hard you have to work for it,” Gilbert added. “This year, the fact that none of this might have happened made us want it that much more. I think sometimes our team has been so strong we take it for granted. This really put it into perspective that we have to work for this. We have to take COVID procedures seriously. We have to do all that to make it possible.”
The Royals have put in the work and it’s paying off. W-M/MW’s season average has them at the top when it comes to Class A teams. After flirting with the top three at state the past few seasons, the Royals have one spot on their mind when it comes to state.
“We’re kind of in the driver’s seat,” Hangartner said. “We’ve had the best average all year in the state. We’ve got to put it together and believe that we can do it. I don’t know if we’ve ever been ranked No. 1, but we’ve been close. We’ve always had Mahtomedi, Perham, and then Detroit Lakes in the way. Now this year, we’re the Detroit Lakes. We’re trying to take that role and have people chase us.”
Follow Kip Kovar on Twitter: @Kovar_HJSports