The Homestead girls gymnastics team has its hopes set on a successful season even with the loss of key seniors from last year and the team being very young.

After graduation, the Highlanders lost two four year varsity gymnasts: Tori Puhl and Nia Fester. Puhl competed on vault, beam and floor and Fester was solely a bars gymnast. Puhl individually qualified for state last season, and the two were on the team’s 2012, 2013 and 2014 state qualifying roster.

Filling their spots and the talent that they brought to the team will be difficult, but the team has gained a talented all around athlete in freshman Emma Fox. Fox was a competitive club gymnast for years and decided to make the switch to high school gymnastics after enjoying her time on the high school dive team. Fox will be competing as a varsity athlete on every event, floor being her favorite. She will bring experience and talent to this young team.

“The transfer from club to high school was really different. Club is super intense and the coaches are very strict. High school is a little more low key but they focus on the hard work but also making sure that it is fun for us,” Fox said.

Another change to this year’s team is the coaching staff. Head Coach Kayla Walenta is at her first year as head coach. She was the assistant to her step-dad, Mike Giles, back in the 2013 and 2014 seasons, and after taking a year off, she has returned to Homestead. Mike Giles has been coming in a few days a week to help with floor and bars.

This year the team has three seniors, all of whom have been on the team since they were freshmae: Ellie Trau, Nina Peot and Mackenzie Goebel. Trau was a big part of the 2013 and 2014 state teams, qualifying individually for bars her freshman year. Trau will compete on varsity for bars, beam and floor.

Peot will only be competing beam this year due to a lingering ankle injury that took her out of competition last season. Goebel is also a returning varsity athlete and she will be competing varsity for beam, floor and occasionally bars.

“We have been working really hard every day in practice to insure that we will be contenders in the North Shore conference. In practice we have been focusing on the little things that will make out routines much cleaner,” Goebel said.

The lady Highlanders hope to be contenders in the very competitive North Shore conference, but also to send some gymnasts to state. “My goal for this season is to make it to state; however, I don’t want to do it alone. I want to go with other people from the team,” Fox said.

The team has had one triangular meet and two dual meets thus far, and won their dual meet against Port Washington. Although they placed last in the triangular against Brookfield Central and Cedarburg/Grafton, the Highlanders posted a team score of 128, which they hope to improve on as the season progresses.

On Wednesday January 6th, Homestead took on another conference powerhouse in the Nicolet Knights. Although the meet was not what the team was hoping for, there were positives to take from Wednesday day. Freshman Olivia Rosserman was on JV beam and scored a 8.75 and Trau scored a 8.8 for varsity beam. 

The team’s only invitational at home will be held Saturday January 16th. This meet is one of the biggest in the state with 18 teams coming from all over the state.

“The Highlander is always one of the most exciting meets of the year. We have so many teams come from all around the state, so it is a nice way to see what the competition is like at the state level not just in our conference,” Trau said.

With the season just beginning, the team is looking promising. Not only do the girls compete well, but everyone gets along just as well, making for a great team environment. “The seniors are really great captains. We have a really young team this year, so we all bond really well. Even the older girls are great; it’s been a really fun season so far,” Fox said.

Gallery • 3 Photos

Elle Liniwenski

Mackenzie Goebel, senior, concentrates during her bar routine. She competed on varsity bars in the first meet of the season.