Feb. 14 -- WATERTOWN, S.D. -- Harrisburg made sure a new champion was in order for 2025 at the Class AA state gymnastics team competition on Friday afternoon, besting powerhouse Mitchell for the state crown.
Harrisburg scored 152.983, the highest team score in the 51-year history of the state meet, while Mitchell was second with 148.566 points at the Watertown Civic Arena. The host Arrows were third with 144.299, and Brookings was fourth at 141.049.
It was the first state gymnastics championship for the Tigers, who showcased their depth in all four events on Friday, backing up a school record performance of 153.725 a week ago in the state-qualifying meet.
The Tigers sealed the competition with their performance on the balance beam on the third event rotation, logging an event score of 38.600 points, which was ahead of their 38.525 at the state qualifier and ended up being eight-tenths of a point ahead of Mitchell. Emery Myron led the way with a 9.750 score, with 9.733 from star Katelyn Maeschen and 9.650 from Meredith Hruby, which finished as three of the top-four scores of the day in the event.
Harrisburg also had four of the top-five scores in the vault, led by Myron's 9.600, which led all vaulters. Maeschen had 9.550, and Isabelle Reiners scored 9.500, plus 9.333 from Meredith Hruby. Myron was also the top scorer on beam in the eight-team event, scoring 9.750, with Maeschen scoring 9.733.
Mitchell, which won the 2024 state title by three-tenths of a point over Harrisburg in Aberdeen, had no such luck trying to repeat the feat again. The Kernels could not string together the scores they needed through their lineup to keep pace with Harrisburg.
"We knew it was going to be really hard to beat them," Kernels coach Audra Rew said. "When you put it all down on paper, we have not scored what they have scored. ... Harrisburg is great. Our girls competed their hearts out and they kept a great attitude, and they know it's out of our hands."
The Tigers were favorites for the championship after posting a state-best 153.725 score last week at the state-qualifying meet in Sioux Falls. Harrisburg had the four highest team scores in South Dakota this season and had won four of the six previous meets this season where they faced off with the Kernels.
Mitchell entered Friday as the winner of the last two Class AA state titles and seven of the last 10. Harrisburg coach Carrie Aylward said she preached to her team to take tunnel vision to the competition and focus on what they could control.
"You never know in this sport. It's such a mental sport, so any day can be anybody's day," Aylward said. "We're confident in our performances. We've been working hard, so we knew what we could put out there, but you just never really know where you're going to end up."
The Kernels got a strong performance from senior Bentley Bates, who led Mitchell in scoring on three events on Friday and had the day's top uneven bars score with a 9.733. Her day also included a personal-best 9.767 score on floor exercise and a 9.683 on balance beam.
But overall, the Kernels never were able to create the momentum from routine to routine that has become a staple of Mitchell's team competition success over the past 20 years. After a successful start on beam, Mitchell had a few stumbles on floor and extra steps in their vault efforts before struggling to match their earlier season performances on uneven bars to close the meet. That included a scary fall for Kyanna Gropper during her bars routine, but the Kernel junior finished the routine after receiving attention from the athletic trainers.
"We just couldn't get all five of them to really hit," Rew said. "And not that you need all five, because you only take four scores, but you kind of build that energy off of each other. And we just weren't doing that."
On beam for Mitchell, Keyana Kelley added a 9.517, Kyanna Gropper had a 9.433, Lainee Forst had a personal-best 9.133 and Aubrey Gelderman scored 8.950. Mitchell's floor scores included Bates' 9.767, Olivia Prunty with a 9.517, Sidney Malde with a 9.500, Emerson Smith with a 9.400 and Kelley had an 8.833 score. Prunty was Mitchell's top scorer on vault with a 9.350, followed by Kelley at 9.317, Bates at 9.200, Forst with a 9.183 and Gropper scoring 8.800. After Bates' 9.733 on bars, Prunty scored 8.833, Abby Helleloid scored 8.617, Kelley scored 8.583 and Gropper tallied 8.333.
Turning the page to Saturday's individual competition, the Kernels expect to be contenders for each of the five event titles to be handed out. Rew said she doesn't believe Friday's outcome will hurt their chances.
"They will be fine," Rew said. "I don't think this will affect them at all. It might make them a little bit hungry to fix the mistakes they made (on Friday)."