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Bach makes third trip to state gymnastics meet
michaela bach
Hillsboros Michaela Bach helped the Viroqua co-op team finish eighth and placed 18th in the individual all-around March 7 at the WIAA state gymnastics meet in Wisconsin Rapids. - photo by Nate Beier photo/Sentry-Enterprise archives

WISCONSIN RAPIDS — Hillsboro junior Michaela Bach made a third straight trip to the WIAA State Gymnastics Championship over the weekend as part of the Viroqua/Cashton/Hillsboro/North Crawford co-op.

This time Bach was joined by her entire team.

The Viroqua co-op placed eighth out of 10 teams in Friday night's Division 2 Team State Championships with a team score of 129.02. Whitefish Bay won the D2 team title with a score of 144.50.

Bach performed well on the balance beam (8.167) and vault (8.367) and posted solid routines on the uneven bars (8.0) and the floor exercise (7.867) to help the Blackhawks finish ahead of Antigo (126.601) and Platteville/Belmont/Lancaster (125.517) in the team standings.

Viroqua sophomore Jozie McClelland posted team-high scores in all four rotations: beam (8.317), floor (9.117), bars (8.467) and vault (8.933).

Seniors Maddy Wiltrout, Aurea Bergquist, Katie Fitzwater, sophomores Jennifer Brendel and Josie Wiltrout, and freshmen Faith Gillen and Maggie Schellhorn rounded out the Blackhawks’ lineup. All but Maddy Wiltrout were making their state gymnastics debut.

This was the Viroqua co-op’s fourth trip to team state since 2009 under coach Darcy McClelland (2009, 2010, 2012). Hillsboro joined the co-op in 2011 when De Soto left.

Saturday Bach, McClelland and freshman teammate Faith Gillen competed in the D2 individual state championships.

The top five finishers in each rotation, as well as the all-around qualified for the state individual championships.

Bach tied for 19th on the floor (8.733) and the vault (8.633), placed 23rd on the bars (7.917) and placed 18th out of 25 competitors in the all-around with a combined score of 33.633.

The younger McClelland placed 11th in the all-around (34.683) after a ninth-place tie in the bars (8.567), 11th-place routines in both the floor (8.983) and the vault (9.0) and a 16th-place on the balance beam (8.133).

Gillen finished 12th on the bar (8.30) and 19th on the beam (7.733) in her first trip to the individual state championships.