Posted: March 9, 2010 |(0) Comments

The Franklin co-op gymnastics team's season-long winning streak came to an end at a most inopportune time, thanks to a familiar foe.

Reigning champion Arrowhead defended its crown by winning the final event at the WIAA Division 1 State Tournament in Wisconsin Rapids on Saturday, edging the Franklin co-op, 144.715-144.118.

It was Franklin's first loss since they were runner-up to Arrowhead at last year's state meet.

"It was a tense, yet amazing finish to quite a year," coach Katie Moore said. "It came down to the final event and the finish was so close, but second place was a tough one to take. After finishing first all year, to experience our first lose in such a big meet was a tough one for the girls.

"They were confident and focused for the meet, but somehow the beam got us."

Before the beam, the meet's final event, Franklin led Arrowhead, 108.417-107.782, thanks to winning efforts on the floor (36.3) and vault (36.733) and the second-best score on the bars (35.384).

But on beam, Franklin, which includes girls from Muskego, Oak Creek and Whitnall, had falls on three of five sets and tallied a score more than 1.2 points behind Arrowhead's 36.933. That difference gave the Warhawks the title.

"In a big meet with such close competition, it is hard to overcome (the falls)," Moore said. "The girls gave it all they had and really had comeback performances on the floor and vault, but came up just short.

"I'm so proud of what these girls accomplished this year," she added. "It's hard right now, but I'm sure they will see what an awesome season it was, no matter what happened at the state meet. And second place in the state isn't such a bad addition to conference and sectional champs."

Muskego's Shannon Hein's 9.267 and Whitnall's Lauren Zurowski's 9.133 turned in the co-op's top efforts on the floor.

Franklin's Jenna Renner's remarkable 9.533, a meet-best, led the way to the team's win on vault. Renner also had a team-best 9.017 on the bars and Muskego's Laruen Hein had a co-op best 9.167 on the beam.

The meet was the last for three seniors: Renner, Lauren Hein and Oak Creek's Alexis Czuta (vault).

"All seniors hit every event they were in and scored some pretty huge scores on Saturday," Moore said. "They should all be proud of quite an amazing season. They really ended their careers well. They will be missed."

But the future is bright for the co-op. The 10-member crew that competed Saturday included two juniors, one sophomore and four freshmen, including Shannon Hein and Zurowski.

"Having four freshmen in a state meet looks awesome for the future," Moore said. "They have the experience and now the motivation to make it happen in the future. A lot of them only competed in a few events this year because we already had enough depth, but many of the younger girls will add events next year.

"Most of our freshmen are very capable in the all-around," Moore added. "We also have two other girls who were not in the meet because of injury that will be awesome additions to the lineup next season.

"You can tell I'm pretty excited about what our future holds."

In the individual state meet one day earlier, Shannon Hein turned in the co-op's best effort by taking eighth on the floor with a 9.133.