HOLMEN — Katie Lange was ready for a change.
Not a change from her driven approach to her favorite sport of gymnastics and not a change from her growing role as a leader for the Holmen High School team.
It is normal practice for gymnasts to change the music for their floor exercise routines every two years, but Lange was eyeing up something drastic.
As she searched for something new to use, she ran across a selection that — if used — would abandon the typical poppy and upbeat background used by most of her peers. She listened to it with a gymnast’s ear and constructed possibilities in her head.
“It sounds creepy,” the three-time WIAA Division 1 state qualifier said. “It’s like a creepy movie.
“It gets louder at some points and goes silent in one part.”
The more she performs the new routine, the better she gets at it, and Lange has been on top of her game over the past week.
Her efforts were rewarded with a 9.425 at the McLellan Invitational on Saturday and with a 9.525 at an MVC meet the Vikings hosted on Monday. They are her top two floor scores of the season.
“She has this way of pulling you into her routine, especially on the beam and floor,” Holmen coach Kali Knower said. “She’s not necessarily jumping around with a fun routine, but it’s powerful.
“We say it’s kind of creepy and dark, but it’s so good. The music is so different that what you typically hear.”
Lange has been the consistent leader for the Vikings as they’ve won each of the three MVC meets held. She was also second all-around (35.925) in the prestigious McLellan — Holmen placed third with a collective 135.725 — before beating that with a 36.7 two days later.
Knower said she sees her senior having more fun with the sport, and that coupled with the competitiveness and focus she has always had, are creating an exciting season.
“She is very serious, and it’s cool to see her really enjoying herself,” Knower said. “She’s letting little mistakes go and moving on.
“That’s been big for her.”
Lange’s interest in gymnastics was cultivated through classes her parents found when she was very young.
“I think I was just flipping around the house,” she said. “I was doing handstands and cartwheels in the living room. I also did dance.”
The time eventually came to make a choice, and Lange chose gymnastics. But she still uses some of the things learned as a dancer — the performance aspect and pointing of toes specifically — to help her in routines.
Lange, whose family moved to the Coulee Region from Colorado when she was 4 years old, started training at the Blue Angels Gymnastics Club in Galesville before moving on to KidSport Gymnastics in Winona.
Knower said she didn’t start working with Lange until she reached the high school and noticed pretty quickly that she could be a factor at the top of the MVC.
“She’s been a powerhouse-strong gymnast since the first day I met her,” Knower said. “Her focus and drive is crazy.”
That has proven beneficial not only to herself but to teammates. The Vikings have a team that is on the young side, and that has provided an opportunity for Lange to assist the coaching staff in bringing it along.
“We’ve got a large group of sophomores,” Knower said. “They kind of dabbled with competing on varsity last year, but they’ve been on varsity consistently this year.
“We’ve been trying to build their confidence, and they’ve been stepping up. We’ve seen a lot of improvement.”
Lange said she enjoys helping people — her future plan is to be a nurse — and the chance to impact those following in her footsteps is appealing to her. Both Lange and Knower said hearing encouragement or critique from a teammate is much different than hearing it from a coach.
“It’s awesome to compete with them,” said Lange, a state qualifier on the bars and on the floor exercise as a junior. “I do like to help out my teammates, and if there’s something I can do to help them with an extra skill, that’s a natural thing for me to do.
“Coaches have great advice. It’s also different hearing something from someone who is still actively doing the same things they are doing every day.”
The Vikings have been watching their team scores rise throughout the season. Holmen had established a season-best (at the time) of 133.4 at an MVC meet host at Performance Elite Gymnastics before scoring the 135.725 at the McLellan and a 138.35 in the conference meet it hosted on Monday.
“It was nice to be on our home turf,” Lange said of the last two meets. “We increased our team score substantially. Our floor has been really good because we bring a lot of energy and confidence.
“You always know what you are supposed to do, but you have to do it with confidence.”
