Austin senior Abby Bickler has been competing in gymnastics for the bulk of her life and she doesn’t plan on stopping anytime soon.

Bickler, who is in her sixth year with the Packer gymnastics team, is set to compete with the Winona State University gymnastics team next season. Bickler and the Packers have spent a lot of summers training with the Winona High School team so she is familiar with the town and she liked what she saw out of WSU when she made her visit.

“I love [Winona]. It’s super pretty and I know a lot of people there,” Bickler said. “I really wanted to gymnastics in college and that was a big part of my decision.”

The Warriors have a Division III program, but they compete against Division I schools during the season. Bickler, who has competed in gymnastics for 14 years, is prepared for the hard work that comes along with competing in a college schedule.

“It’s definitely a big commitment. They are in the gym for about three or four hours a day and there is weight lifting three or four times a week,” she said. “It’s a big commitment to the sport, but it’s even bigger commitment to the team. They’re pretty much always together and they rely on each other a lot. I’ll either be at school or gymnastics.”

The Packers have had a lot of success in gymnastics since Bickler joined the team. Austin has competed in the Class A team state tournament four of the past five years and the Packers are one of the contenders to get back to state this season. Bickler has competed in all of those meets and four individual state meets. She finished fourth in the all-around at state last season and she had the best floor score in the entire state. However, Bickler wasn’t able to medal in floor because she didn’t individually qualify for the event at the Section 1A meet.

“That was probably one of the most happy, yet sad moments of my life,” Bickler said. “Knowing I had done that well, but I didn’t qualify for it. It’s pushing me to get back in the gym to work hard and get back to do state and do well again.”

Bickler said she’s ready for the competitiveness that comes with being on a college gymnastics squad as she’s been part of a very successful Austin program. The Packers are getting used to a new lineup and a new head coach this season, but the team is starting to come along.

“We always hold our team to high goals,” Bickler said. “It’s been a transitional year and it’s been a challenge to get used to everything. We haven’t really done as well as we’ve wanted to yet, but we have a lot of potential. If we keep working, I think we’ll do pretty well.”

The Packer gymnastics team will host Rochester Century, Rochester John Marshall and Rochester Mayo Tuesday at 6 p.m.