WEST SALEM — It is no secret that the West Salem co-op gymnastics team has been building something special in the Panther Den.
That practice facility is where the bulk of the work has been done during a streak of four consecutive WIAA state meets.
Seniors Olivia Maki, Camdyn Lyga and Hayden Rohde have been part of three of those state meets and are aiming for a fourth under the guidance of veteran coach Carrie O’Hearn.
And while they cherish the accomplishments, the excitement about possibilities over the next eight weeks are difficult to hide.
“Every single kid in there is motivated, and the team motivates them even more,” O’Hearn said during a recent practice. “They push each other to be their best every single day in here.”
That motivation has been expanded by the team’s performance over its first five meets.
The Panthers have topped a team score of 140 four times after starting the season with an early meet in Mankato and making a debut with a 136.7.
The 140s are where Division 1 teams are when they compete for championships, and West Salem is making itself an early player in that picture during its second season as a Division 1 program. The Panthers placed sixth in Division 2 back in 2022 before following that up with two runner-up performances.
Their Division 1 debut last year included an eighth-place showing.
“I think we went into last year a little nervous because D1 is a whole different ball field,” Lyga said. “But I think it helped us build confidence when we saw we could still do well against all those bigger schools.”
And instead of being intimidated, the Panthers are doing the intimidating with their early-season performance.
With six meets remaining — the next is Thursday at Caledonia — before the postseason, West Salem already has scores of 140.325, 140.45, 140.475 and 140.925 on the record.
“Last year, (the first time) was the end of January, and we only did it twice,” O’Hearn said of hitting the 140 mark. “It’s rare. I think there are only six or seven seasons in my 23 that we have hit 140.”
Personal bests are established each meet, and records are falling for a group that seems prepared to take the Panthers to new heights and cement their status in Division 1 despite being so much smaller than the schools against which they compete.
O’Hearn added a meet to the schedule this season, and it got the team going competitively a week earlier than it typically starts.
The Panthers recorded a 136.7 in that meet, which took place in Mankato. O’Hearn attended Mankato East, and Maki said the venue was one with which the West Salem gymnasts were familiar through a camp.
It was an opportunity to compete against bigger schools from another state and get the eyes of different judges on what they do.
The Panthers were without varsity all-arounder Grace Olson, but Lyga contributed a 34.525, Brielle Moore a 34.5 and Maki a 33.95. Maki also had a 9.5 on the vault and Lyga a 9.4 on the floor exercise.
West Salem’s 136.7 was good for third place in an eight-team field that was won by Mankato East (141.6). Mankato West (141.05) was second.
The Panthers didn’t have the chance to follow closely the live results because of a no-phone rule that is active during meets. The purpose of it is to encourage personal bonding while traveling and better focus and concentration during competition.
It also adds a little suspense for the outcome by not being on top of the scores every step of the way.
“We went into it thinking of it as a fun meet, not as a much competitive for us,” Maki said. “We had one girl sick, and another was gone. We started on bars and had to move up two girls (from junior varsity) who stepped up.
“When we moved to beam, it was a little rocky, but we brought it back on floor and did really well on vault. When we heard the score, we were like, ‘Oh, my gosh.’ It was a little bit of shock.”
Things have only gotten better as the season has progressed.
Lyga has the team’s top all-around score of 35.2, and Olson has checked in as high as 35.075.
Maki has scored from 9.225 to the 9.5 in every meet on the vault, and Lyga has been scored between 9.3 and 9.725 in every meet on the floor. Rohde has been a top performer on the uneven bars with a score as high as 8.575, and Maki, Lyga and Olson have taken turns with the top score on the balance beam.
Those probably aren’t the kinds of scores they anticipated when joining the program as freshmen. Back then, it was about fitting in with a program that had been taking big steps forward, and older teammates on a roster that always seems to be balanced by grade helped them.
The lesson learned there has been applied the past couple of seasons bug this senior group.
Lyga said she was terrified for the first month of her freshman year because it was a new experience and because she was the only competitor from Bangor. She credited now-graduated Kennedy Garbers as one teammate who reached out to make the situation more comfortable for her.
“There are sports where it is mostly upperclassmen, but here you have all grade levels,” Lyga said. “I like that we are so mixed together.
“I know how terrified I was my freshman year, so I try to help them with whatever I can, offer rides and do what I can to make them comfortable.”
That comfort level certainly hasn’t hurt a group of gymnasts working together to accomplish something special.
And even when considering recent success, the Panthers appear to be doing just that.
