Gymnastics: Warriors set for big routines and big scores

Brainerd Warrior gymnast Brooke Jones performs on the uneven parallel bars during practice last week. Steve Kohls / Brainerd Dispatch

By Jeremy Millsop

December 04, 2018 at 8:00 AM

A mixture of savvy veterans, eager rookies and state-experienced talent could have the Brainerd Warriors on the rise this season.

Last year, Brainerd finished fourth in the Central Lakes Conference and sixth in the Section 8-2A meet.

Second-year head coach Tessa Poorker learned a lot from her first varsity season and is excited about her roster this season.

"We graduated four seniors and brought in five new eighth-graders this year so our team number is pretty much the same this year," Poorker said. "Depth-wise and skills we are looking pretty good for down the road looking forward to the section meet. The girls conditioned really hard during the offseason just keeping their bodies ready for the season and strong so that we don't have to work backward and concentrate on their conditioning.

"A lot of our upperclassmen competed for varsity last year so we'll have a strong lineup with them. It will be fun to see where our rookies are put into place in our lineup as well. It's always a fun game to figure out what the top lineups will be."

One of the top vaulters is sure to be junior Ellie Selisker who placed 38th in that event in last year's Class 2A individual state meet as she scored a 9.175. She posted 9.3s at both the section and CLC meets.

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Brainerd Warriors

Head coach: Tessa Poorker, second season
Career record: 4-3
2017-18 record: 3-3 in CLC, 4-3 overall, fourth in CLC meet, sixth in Section 8-2A
Returning state meet participant: Ellie Selisker
Captains: Jocelyn Polansky, Abby Doran, Eden Worden, Brooke Jones
Assistant coaches: Anna Rogers, Jessica Lofrano-Larson

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"She is a lot more determined," Poorker said. "Her state appearance really captured the big picture of what the ultimate goal is. It's hard to go and not have your team with, but she embraced it. I just tell her she's ready for more and to keep moving forward."

Selisker will compete in all four events this season as will returning all-arounder Brooke Jones. The junior is one of four captains. Jones was sixth in the CLC with a 35.7 all-around score and placed 16th at the section meet with a 33.150

"Brooke ended up stepping into the all-arounder last year as a sophomore due to injuries," Poorker said. "In order to have a meet count, you need an all-arounder and I wasn't sure who that was going to be. I talked to her and told her she was the next one up. That lit a fire into her. She's been an all-around gymnast for a long time, but she has her standout events. Other people specialized in some of her weaker events so we had her on the backburner a little bit.

"She's still working all four events this year. To be completely honest, for our opening meet Thursday, (Dec. 6), I have not decided who our all-arounder will be yet because we have so much depth in all events."

Providing leadership to a deep team will be seniors Jocelyn Polansky and Aby Doran. Polansky was the top scorer for Brainerd on floor at the CLC and section meets. She posted an 8.8 at sections and a 9.125 in the conference meet. Doran and Polansky both competed on varsity vault.

"Jocelyn and Abby have been with our program for a really long time now," Poorker said. "It's been really fun to see them grow as leaders over the years. They are attacking their senior year. Jocelyn does three events for us and Abby competes vault and floor and beam. Abby was in the varsity lineup for vault last year and Jocelyn was vault and floor for varsity and kind of in the mix on bars.

"I love our leadership and they're always behind what we do. That's helped with the morale of the room and brought to light what the common goal is at the end of the day."

The fourth captain is Eden Worden who is looking to amplify the power in her vault and floor routines this season. She scored an 8.9 on vault and an 8.425 on floor at the conference meet.

"Eden is definitely pushing for that powerhouse mentality," Poorker said. "She's cleaning up some floor passes. She's working on cleaning up some jumps and focusing on the little things. We're working on an upgraded vault, too. She's been working on it during the offseason. She's trying to get that consistency."

Brainerd's beam was filled with youthful excitement last year. Sophomore Maddy Sedlachek was the team's top scorer at the section meet with an 11th-place 8.725. Freshman Kamryn Peterson posted Brainerd's third top score at the conference meet.

"We've kind of been playing with (Maddy's) routine a little bit, changing some skills around," Poorker said. "Beam can be a hit or miss kind of event. It all just depends how you do right off the bat.

"Maddy is really growing into her confidence on beam and it's really showed at the beginning of the season. We've been playing around with some different skills and she's looking very strong. I'm excited to keep going into the 9s with her and have her be one of our anchor beamers."

Back from injury is Kenna Smith, whom Poorker is excited about. Smith will also be an all-arounder, but stressed her skill level on beam.

"We actually did a mock meet in our gym last week and Kamryn Peterson was our scorer on beam with an 8.7," Poorker said. "We had official judges come in. It's still early in the season so I wanted to see where we were score-wise, endurance and how we feel about our routines and what we should change.

"She added a few new skills so it's awesome to see her confidence grow with that."

Brainerd hosts the Section 8-2A meet this season. Poorker hopes that gives her team a boost it needs to move up toward the top of the standings. Having some youthful influence in the form of five eighth-graders working toward a varsity spot should help, too. Poorker likes the competition.

"We've got a really strong rookie group coming in," she said. "They're all contributing to one event in the varsity area. I'm not sure how consistent they'll be in the lineup, but it's good to have that push. They've been pushing our whole team with the skills that they have.

"Everyone is just doing great. You look around the gym and the coaches are having fun and rewarding the girls for how things are going. I'm just looking forward to what we open with on Thursday."

Warrior roster

Seniors: Abby Doran, Jocelyn Polansky

Juniors: Brooklyn Jones, Eden Worden, Elizabeth Selisker, Helen Knudson, Marissa Gower

Sophomores: Ella Hannah, Elle Bruggeman, Kenna Smith, Maddy Sedlachek, Olivia Stirewalt

Freshmen: Haley Jones, Kamryn Peterson, Rachel Moore, Taylor Bordwell

Eighth-graders: Brenna Deason, Evi Helsene, Izzy Olson, Josie Harguth, Meghan Wirtz

Warrior schedule

Thursday, Dec. 6, at Alexandria 7 p.m.

Dec. 11, Bemidji 7 p.m.

Dec. 13, Sauk Rapids 7 p.m.

Dec. 15, Warrior Invite 11 a.m.

Dec. 20, St. Cloud 7 p.m.