— Avery McAllister traveled back to Perham with another state championship medal draped around her neck. After the senior concluded her day at Roy Wilkins Auditorium on Saturday afternoon, she couldn’t muster up the words to describe her Yellowjacket gymnastics career coming to a close.
McAllister failed to defend her Class A Individual state championship title but she added her long list of hardware. She finished as the vault champion with a score of 9.8125 and took home the bronze medal on the floor (9.5125).
“I think for me, mostly it’s fun, obviously, but it also just shows what can come out of hard work and dedication and just really giving your all,” McAllister said on ending her Perham career with two more medals.”
Her day began with a chance to finish on top of the podium for the second consecutive year on the beam.
“We started off not necessarily how we would want to on beam with those two falls after coming from being a state champion last year,” head coach Jenna Kupferschmid said of McAllister’s performances. “I think she kind of wanted to defend her title, but beam is a hard event to do that on.”
“But I was really proud of the way she came back from it and kind of just left beam at beam and came back and went to floor and got third and then won vault. So really couldn’t ask for her to do any better than that after those two falls. So it was unfortunate for her, for her all around score, but she really just had a good day on vault and floor, too. And even her bar score is one of the best scores that she’s had all year.”
McAllister secured 26th place (8.4375) on the bars and ended 41st place (8.300) on the beam.
REUTER’S BRIGHT FUTURE
Freshman Elise Reuter qualified for the floor exercise and the balance beam. She ended the afternoon in 46th place (7.600) on the beam and 24th place (9.075) on the floor. To be a participant in the festivities at the state championships was quite the feat.
“I think one of her (Reuter) main goals was just to get to state, and so when she went on beam, I kind of just said, you made it and this is your main goal,” Kupferschmid said. “But I think as a ninth grader and never being down to state, this is her first time here, so I think she probably had those first-time jitters and she did. She did good on floor, so I’m excited to see what new things to come from her next year and then the years after.”
Reuter was lucky to have had a one-of-a-kind talent and teammate in Avery McAllister with her every step of the way.
“It’s amazing,” McAllister said about Reuter’s state meet. “It’s always so fun for the younger girls to be able to come down here and have this experience because there’s really nothing like it in gymnastics. I’m so proud of her for everything because she has worked so hard for this.”
MCALLISTER TO BE MISSED
As the chapter of being a Yellowjacket gymnast came to a close, McAllister reminisced about the countless pages of memories she created. From this year’s team and ones of the past, they all helped her in her journey and she couldn’t be more thankful.
“I’m going to miss my team, for sure,” she said. “Without them, I don’t think I would have ever gotten here. And my past teams and my coaches made me who I am today.”
It’s also McAllister’s presence at practices, meets and everything in between that Perham will miss the most. She became the pinnacle of success in a program that has seen so many do it at the top.
“We’ll miss her huge, but she’s just so consistent and I’ve said that before, but I was so proud that she got vault and finally got that win,” Kupferschmid said. “She’s been trying to win vault for a few years now, and to get that win on vault for her, I think was one of her main goals. But, we’ll really miss her and just her leadership and her consistency for us on the team overall.”
PERHAM SCORES CLASS A INDIVIDUAL STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS
ALL-AROUND- 12-McAllister 36.050
VAULT- 1-McAllister 9.800
BARS- 26-McAllister 8.475
BEAM- 41-McAllister 8.300; 46-Reuter 7.600
FLOOR- 3-McAllister 9.475; 24-9.075