#goals
When it comes to ambitions — or, in today’s social media parlance, “#goals” — one of the biggest for the Litchfield gymnastics team the past couple of seasons has involved an almost mystical number.
137.
That number, achieved by the Dragons’ 2008 team, stood as a meet points record for more than a decade. And then, Friday night, Litchfield’s 2022 squad set a new standard, posting a 137.725 during a triangular meet at Litchfield Armory.
“It feels great to finally break the school record,” Litchfield head coach Sara Holmgren said. “We set that goal for ourselves last year, and we have most of the same girls back this year, so we made it our goal again. It was fun to see how excited the girls got when it was announced – I loved watching their reaction.”
The Dragons had flirted with the record a few times in the past few seasons, scoring 135 in two meets during the 2020 season, and a 136.175 in a February 2021 dual meet.
But the record had stubbornly stood. Until Friday.
Litchfield had the top individual score in the vault and floor exercise, and had its three all-around competitors — Raina Kaping, Liv Holmgren and Grace Borowicz — finish 2-4, respectively, in the meet with Maple Lake and Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted. While individuals were delivering big performances in terms of scores, it was the little things that really mattered, Holmgren said.
“We raised our scores on bars, beam and floor, and that is because the girls worked hard to clean up little things in their routines in order to increase their scores,” she said. “This was the first week that we had our entire team at practice and at the meet since before Christmas. We have been battling illness and it was great to have everyone back this week. The girls have been working really hard and it was fun to see that hard work pay off.”
Maple Lake’s Elizabeth Borgert captured first place in the all-around, as well as winning the balance beam and uneven bars. But after her, it was primarily a Litchfield sweep of the top spots in each event.
Kaping, a junior, finished second all-around with a score of 34.65. Holmgren, also a junior, was third with 34.375, and Borowicz, a senior, was fourth with 34.175.
Kaping won the floor exercise with a 9.125, in addition to finishing third in vault and balance beam, and tying Holmgren for fourth on bars.
Holmgren and Borowicz tied for first on vault with a 9.0, while Holmgren also took third in floor exercise and Borowicz second in bars with an 8.475.
Senior Emma Brown had the Dragons’ top finish on balance beam, taking second with 8.75 points.
“This is such a strong lineup that we have this year,” coach Holmgren said. “We don’t have one standout gymnast that carries the team. We have five strong gymnasts on every single event, and then we have two or three more on the JV that are working hard to push those varsity gymnasts to be better.
“I think each of the girls made personal improvements and have chosen to focus on things that can improve their routines in order to help the team score better and break that school record,” Holmgren added. “That was their goal for a while now. Most of these girls have been competing on the varsity team for five or six years, and their experience is definitely showing this year.”
The Dragons might be peaking at just the right time. They have one regular season meet remaining — Thursday at Rockford — before the section meet, which is scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 12, at Litchfield High School.
The section meet features four teams capable of scoring in the 136- to 140-point range, so the school-record score from Friday should give the Dragons the confidence that they’re in the mix.
“I think the way we competed Friday was great motivation for the girls to realize that we have a shot at winning that section meet,” Holmgren said. “This was a huge confidence boost for our girls to see that their hard work actually paid off. If they continue to work and improve their routines, these scores will keep improving.”
