This season did not lead the Shorewood gymnastics team to state; however, Sophomore Brianna Artis did make state individually, and the entire team went to support her.

The state tournament was held on February 29 and March 1, and Artis performed well. Senior Johanna Weisman stated, “I think it was her best meet of the season.”

Although she did  not place extremely high, she still felt the meet was a success: “I did as well as I could do for sophomore year,” she said.

At the start of the season there were only two seniors, one of whom was injured very early on and essentially dropped off the team. 

The other, Weisman, sustained an injury as well and could no longer participate by the end of the season. The team, composed of two seniors (both injured), four juniors, and four sophomores, was relatively young.

In conference, the team finished last, but Coach Sarah Paul feels that if Weisman, a top contender, had not been injured, the team could have placed at least fourth: “We struggled at the end of the season because Johanna was injured, but even without her contributing to the team total we did the best we could,” said Paul.

This season the team only had nine girls, whereas last year they had 14. With injuries, the girls were very shorthanded by the end of the year.

“We didn’t have quite as many routines to choose from, but the girls that were on the team this year worked extremely hard, and stepped up a notch. We did the best we could for what we had this year,” said Paul.

Future seasons for the squad look bright, as the team is gaining in experience. The only senior who is leaving this year is Weisman, who, though a tough person to lose, is “passing the torch” down to Artis.  In addition, there are numerous eighth grade girls who are skilled and will hopefully go out for the team next year.

Aside from individual development, the entire program is improving. Last year the team saved enough money to purchase a vault so they could practice at Shorewood more often, and this year they have the money to buy a new bar set.

“We can improve our gym to make it more accessible to everybody,” Paul said.

Furthermore, they began a youth gymnastics program to get girls interested at an earlier age and get the idea of Shorewood gymnastics in their mind.

Though this year ended poorly, especially for Weisman, there is a promising future for Shorewood Gymnastics.

The team is very sad to lose Weisman, but, as Paul said, “At least she left with some good stories and some good times, and she is a good gymnast, and the rest of our team keeps striving to be where Johanna is now.”