Killer B’s fly to the finish

Doug Byrnes, head gymnastics coach, said the 2014 gymnastics season was “almost the perfect ending” and he was proud of the team’s accomplishments this season.

The Pipers won their first meet in seven years, and they came less than a point away from qualifying for nationals as a team. Senior Bria Blakely won the NCGA Championship title and senior Courtney Benson was honored with the NCGA Outstanding Senior Athlete award.

Junior Summer Haag said she knew the season was promising when the team opened the season scoring nearly what they scored to close out the 2013 season.

Byrnes confirmed he felt the same way.

“You kind of had a vision that things could go well if we worked hard and were smart and sensible,” Byrnes said.

Byrnes said he emphasized to the team to believe they could hang with the other teams and put themselves in a position to be in the game.

“They did,” Byrnes said. “They worked hard, they rolled with the punches, kept themselves in the game and we were knocking on the door to go to nationals. We haven’t been in that position in eight years.”

First-year Mad Sendek said when the team placed fourth at the WIAC/NCGA West Regional meet on March 2, it was her favorite moment of the season because “nobody expected us to” perform that well.

“We hit most of our routines which is really awesome,” Sendek said.

The Pipers were expected to finish seventh, but they recorded their best score of the season at 185.75, and were less than a point away from qualifying at the 2014 NCGA Championship Meet.

“We literally lost by like half a toe point and that is next to nothing in gymnastics,” Benson said.

Benson explained the team had emphasized all season long to peak at regionals. Benson feels they did just that, as the team recorded their highest score all season.

“We had the best performance we could possibly have at the meet where it counted,” Benson said. “Frustrating, yet rewarding at the same time.”

In the end, the Pipers had two seniors, Benson and Blakely, advance to the NCGA Championships that took place on March 21 through March 22.

“They really deserved it,” Byrnes said. “They put it together all year and for them it was about, can they perform well one more time?”

Benson had won the NCGA title the year before and said this year she just wanted to seize the moment of her final career meet.

“Last season I had the best season possible. I ended with the national championship title. It doesn’t get much better than that,” Benson said. “I just wanted my teammate to do really well and have the same success that I’ve had last season.”

Blakely said it was nice to compete with Benson for one last time. Blakely also appreciated the support that traveled to Ithaca, New York to see them perform. Her teammate Alexis Nault (‘15), former teammate Corrine Stiffler (‘13) and her family all came to the meet.

“It was fun to have them support Courtney and I at our meet,” Blakely said. “It was going to be our last meet so we just wanted to have fun with it and just make the best of it.”

Byrnes said last year at the NCGA, Blakely stumbled on the last move in one of her events. Byrnes said seeing her comeback on the big stage to score a perfect 10 on floor exercise, a D-III record, and win the NCGA Championship title was like a dream come true.

For her very last routine in her college career to hit it like that, wow, that’s like what dreams are made of,” Byrnes said. “It’s like hitting that walk-off homerun in the World Series.”

After Blakely’s routine, she received a standing ovation and drew praise from fans of all schools in attendance.

“It was the loudest cheer I’ve heard all weekend and about the loudest cheer I’ve heard from a meet,” Byrnes said. “Bria had the routine of her lifetime.”

With Blakely winning the title in 2014 following Benson in 2013, it marked the first time in school history that two gymnasts won the title in back to back years.

Benson finished third at this year’s meet and was honored as an All-American along with Blakely. Benson was also named Outstanding Senior Athlete by the NCGA.

“That was well deserved,” Byrnes said. “She had four solid years of collegiate competitive gymnastics. As a senior, this was her best all-around performance at nationals.”

Benson said she has aspired to achieve an award like that since she was a senior in high school watching a regional meet hosted in her hometown and seeing a student-athlete being honored.

“Ever since that day, it was like I want to be like that girl… I want to be that girl with the 3.95 GPA who has all these accolades,” Benson said. “Ever since then I had a goal set out to do that and it’s very rewarding.”

Earlier this season, Benson became the first Hamline athlete to be honored with the WIAC Women’s Gymnastics Judy Kruckman Scholar-Athlete Award, an award she received for maintaining a 3.95 GPA with gymnastics.

Benson was satisfied with her personal achievements but she said her favorite memory of the season was seeing the team win their dual meet against Winona.

On Feb. 18, the team traveled to Winona State University for their dual meet. Winning at Winona was special for Benson because she won the All-Around title in her hometown–placing first in vault, balance beam and tying for first in floor exercise–and helped the Pipers win their first meet in seven years.

“It was pretty outrageous and it’s definitely my favorite experience at Hamline so far,” Benson said. “I’ve come very far as an individual, but I’ve always said that I want to put my team first and I’d rather have success as a team than success as an individual.”

Blakely said this year was a testament to what gymnastics has taught her.

“Gymnastics at Hamline has taught me to believe in yourself, believe in others,” Blakely said.

Benson attested to that statement.

“I’ve learned that teamwork is critical to almost anything in life. It’s so true that together we can do so much for alone we can only do so little,” Benson said. “At the end of the day, sharing the experience with someone is so much better than sharing the experience alone.”

Overall, Blakley views this year as a success.

“I’m just happy with the way the year ended, no regrets,” Blakely said. “This was a great year for me and my teammates. I wish the team the best of luck next year.”

Haag will be one of the team’s seniors next season and  said she’s learned a lesson from the leadership of seniors Benson and Blakely.

“They definitely taught me to take it one step at a time,” Haag said. “What you do now will affect what you do later in the season.”

Junior Tasha Golding said the team is excited for next year and they’re already training for the next season, which is a change in pace from their usual offseason, as they generally rest after regionals.

“We’re taking different steps than we had in the past year to help improve like we did this year,” Golding said.

Last season Haag suffered an ankle injury that prevented her from performing floor exercises, but Haag is training with the goal of coming back next year to be an all-around athlete, as she was her first two years.

Byrnes said the 2014 season was close to a story book ending for the Pipers.

“It was almost the perfect ending,” Byrnes said. “The perfect ending is to have your [entire] team there [at nationals, but] I couldn’t ask for a better year. I was proud of the team.”

The Pipers have seven recruits coming in next year to add to their roster. Byrnes said he likes what he foresees in the future of the program.

“We’re on a great path, we have a great future,” Byrnes said. “I think we’re moving in a great direction and I don’t see that changing.”