State gymnast, coach look forward to continued growth
By Adam Knoll
Sports Correspondent
After an up and down season featuring a very young team, Whitewater High School gymnastics head coach Jennifer Galbrecht knows that this past season was about growth toward the future.
“We were a new, young team. We only have one junior and one senior returned from varsity from last year,” Galbrecht explained. “I feel the team improved during the years and we finished with our best score we’ve ever had.”
After placing sixth out of the seven squads during the sectional meet, it was time to pack up for the season and look forward to next winter.
Except for WHS sophomore Kelly O’Hara who earned a chance to compete at state after a notable season.
O’Hara qualified in four separate areas: the vault, bars, floor and the all-around. When asked what she thought were her strengths, O’Hara was quick in her response.
“I feel my strength is probably in the floor and vault,” O’Hara said.
Her coach agreed.
“I think her floor is gorgeous,” Galbrecht said. “It’s one of her strong suits. She is a dancer, it’s one of her backgrounds, so that really sticks out for me.”
True to form, O’Hara took 15th in the vault Saturday at the WIAA State Gymnastics competition with what Galbrecht described as a “gorgeous attempt.”
O’Hara finished 21st in the all-around and claimed second team All-State in the floor exercise.
Now that the year is truly over, O’Hara said she looks forward to getting into her off-season routine, which she said is geared toward gymnastics in the winter.
“I work out and do summer school gymnastics,” O’Hara said.
When asked if it was easier to concentrate this year, O’Hara said it was. “It was a lot easier to compete this year for me, after going through it my freshman year.”
Galbrecht believes she has one of the top gymnasts in the state in O’Hara.
“Kelly is a super gymnast from the club background. She has improved during the season just by working hard and can really turn it on when she needs to,” Galbrecht said.
Overall, Galbrecht said she is sure that by spending this past season as a team captain, O’Hara will only continue to grow as a leader and help move the team forward for the next few years.
“She leads by example,” Galbrecht explained. “And now that we got this year under our belt, we will have Kelly back and we just hope to keep on growing.”
The future looks bright for the young Whippet squad, who are sure to be worth keeping an eye on going forward. With such a young group of athlete and more promising gymnasts coming into the group as freshmen next season, it will be interesting to see if Whitewater can make a move to get the team as a whole invited to compete at state.
For now, at least, the Whippets have the comfort of knowing they have one elite gymnast in the fold in O’Hara and she should certainly have a positive influence on the entire team for at least the next two years.
