Four gymnasts from Russell Gymnastics in Stevens Point came out on top in the USAG Wisconsin state meet.

By Jacob Heid

Sports Writer

Everything fell into place for the Russell Gymnastics training gym when it sent 18 athletes to the USAG Wisconsin optional state meet on Mar. 25-26.

Kerrie Aumann, Isabelle Berens, Addison Brock and Arianna Ostrum all left the meet with first-place finishes.

The hard work and dedication to the craft paid off for the four champions.

Regionals are the next step for the gymnasts.

Debra Russell, the owner of Russell Gymnastics, broke down the different levels that competed. 

“The optional levels that competed at the state meet were levels six through 10, 10 being the highest level. Each level requires a certain level of skills,” Russell said. 

The four winners competed at levels 10, nine and six, with two athletes winning events at level nine. 

Ostrum participated at the highest level, winning on the beam with a score of 9.5. 

Berens and Brock each competed at level nine, with Berens taking gold on the bars with an 8.9 score. 

Brock had a near-perfect score on three events, taking first in the vault, beam and her floor routine. She scored 9.5, 9.35 and 9.3, respectively. 

Aumann rounded out the winners with an all-around first-place finish at level six, finishing with the highest combined score of 36.275 throughout all the events.

“This sport requires a ton of dedication to master the skills required for each level. Some of our athletes will work on a skill for two years to master it,” Russell stated. “Needless to say, they are a group of athletes who are rare. The level six and seven’s train 15 hours per week. The level eight through 10’s train 19 hours per week.” 

Regionals occur with other neighboring midwestern states.

“Our region consists of seven states: Nebraska, North and South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri and Wisconsin. The six, seven and eight’s will be done at regionals for the season,” Russell explained. “The nine’s will try to be top seven in their age group to compete at the Western Championships. They compete against the western half of the country. The level 10’s will have to be the top seven in their age group as well, but they will compete against the entire country.” 

The gym also does something to celebrate anyone who finishes in the top 10 at Westerns or Nationals. 

The athlete gets recognized with a photo on the wall inside the gym. 

Ostrum finished in seventh place at Nationals on the beam in level 10 last year.