In a season that included runner-up finishes at both the Big Rivers Conference and Division 2 sectional tournaments, a young River Falls gymnastics roster relied heavily on the leadership of seniors and team captains alike.

For River Falls head coach Bridgette Lensing, the seniors and team captains set the tone for the 2022-23 season. They helped the team overcome adversity when injury struck during the regular season and then led a youthful roster to a sixth-place finish at the state championships in Wisconsin Rapids two weeks ago.

“Junior Rylee Sabelko and senior Katie Olson are our captains as voted by their teammates,” Lensing said. “Our seniors Katie, Lily (Langer) and Sophia (Jensen) have also done a great job of taking on different leadership positions as our upperclassmen athletes.”

This year’s team featured a smaller roster of 11 girls that included three seniors, three juniors, one sophomore and four freshmen. In years past with larger rosters, the Wildcats coaching staff wouldn’t have nearly as many one-on-one development opportunities as they had this year.

Those individual, specialized coaching opportunities paired with the captain and senior leadership helped younger girls develop their routines ahead of schedule. Coach Lensing spoke about how having a smaller roster expedited underclassmen’s development.

“Having a smaller team allowed us to really focus and help the younger ones understand and get used to how our team works with expectations and traditions,” Lensing said. “There is a strong leadership presence that returned with the upperclassmen, so it makes it easier because the underclassmen have great role models to look up to and model after.”

Although upperclassmen leadership is always pivotal to high school sports, it’s not always put to the test. River Falls had its leadership tested when a couple of injuries to veteran athletes on the roster made way for younger girls to see legitimate varsity action.

No underclassmen had a more significant and immediate impact than freshman Ella Pierce, who became one of the Wildcats’ best performers in her debut season with River Falls. After a strong regular season, Pierce separated herself from nearly every freshman in the state with a dominant showing at the Division 2 sectional tournament in West Salem on Feb. 25.

Pierce posted River Falls’ best score in the floor event with a 9.183 on her way to finishing top five in every event at the sectional, which qualified her for state in Wisconsin Rapids the following weekend.

That’s where she finished eighth in the floor, 12th in the uneven bars, 14th in the all-around, 15th in vaulting and 20th in the balance beam. Coach Lensing spoke about how injuries paved the way for Pierce and other underclassmen to step up in big moments.

“Because of injuries we’ve had some underclassmen fill in big roles and through practice and pressure they have done a great job,” Lensing said. “Ella put up some good scores for our team. Her teammates are an amazing support system to help guide her and show her the ropes. Their support was definitely a factor in her success this year.”

Pierce became one of the key players on the 2022-23 Wildcats roster in addition to Sabelko, Jensen, junior Rachel Everson, sophomore Laney Cegielski, and freshmen Ava Petraitis and McKenna Cook.

Their efforts helped River Falls post a 9-3 record in Big Rivers Conference duals and finish third at the BRC meet in Rice Lake on Feb. 18. Their dual record, combined with a strong showing at the conference meet led the Wildcats to a runner-up finish in the league standings.

River Falls trailed only Chippewa Falls/McDonell, a program that won the conference championship and went on to finish third in the Division 1 team state championships on March 3.

In addition to a runner-up finish in the Big Rivers this season, the Wildcats also finished second at the Division 2 sectional tournament in West Salem on Feb. 25. River Falls’ team score of 139 was less than a point shy of winning the sectional title.

The Wildcats were bested only by the host West Salem Panthers, which posted a team championship score of 139.75.

For Lensing, producing a cumulative score of 139 was a reflection of the hard work that her girls had done all season under the direction of a veteran coaching staff and superb senior leadership. She spoke about her team setting a season PR at the West Salem sectional.

“It was an awesome day for the kids and a season PR that got us our spot into the state meet,” Lensing said. “Then at state in our division, we had the second-highest floor team score. Our floor is something we as a group take a lot of pride in.”

Despite uncertainties throughout the 2022-23 season, River Falls – in large part because of senior and captain leadership – found a way to overcome adversity, finish runner-up in the Big Rivers and earn a sixth-place finish at the state championships in Wisconsin Rapids.

River Falls graduates the three aforementioned seniors Sophia Jensen, Lilly Langer and Katie Olson, all of whom have been instrumental in maintaining a winning culture that continues to resonate throughout the program.