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The Austin gymnastics team won’t just be ending its season when four of its athletes compete at the Minnesota Class A State Individual Meet at Roy Wilkens Auditorium in St. Paul at Saturday, starting at 11 a.m., the Packers will also be strengthening a bond that has been built over sprained ankles, disappointing scores, unexpected strides and shared joy.

“I’ve been doing gymnastics with these girls forever and they’ve been my friends,” senior Katelyn Klouse said. “Sometimes we bicker, but we make up. I feel like it’s a family bond at this point and we’ve all got each other’s back.”

While all four Packer state qualifying gymnasts have competed at state before, they certainly aren’t taking this trip for granted.

Austin senior Kiki Rodriguez will compete in the all-around in what will be her fourth straight trip to state, senior Reese Norton will compete on floor after not making it to state since she was a freshman. Klouse will compete on bars after not making it to state since she was a sophomore and freshman Callie McRae will be competing on bars after competing on the floor at last season’s state meet.

Norton is embracing her last time with her gymnastics teammates after an emotional Section 1A meet that had the team wondering if it was their last day together.

“It’s a very bittersweet ending. We were just over a point away from going to state and we had beaten Bryon on senior night, so taking second behind them was a little upsetting, but we’re all extremely proud because that was our season high score,” Norton said. 

Norton wasn’t sure if she’d make it back to the state meet, but she was able to put her floor routine together when it counted.

“I feel like every year since freshman year there has been a chance for me, but it really comes down to what kind of day you have on the section meet and unfortunately the last two years I did not have my best day on sections,” she said. “I tried not to get in my head about it, because I knew I had a chance, but I knew if I overthought it too much, I might blow it. It was a really big shock to hear my name get called.”

Rodriguez took 14th in all-around at last year’s state meet and she’s hoping to make her fourth performance at state her best one yet. She cited the closeness of this year’s team as one of the keys to success. 

Now she’s focused on ending things with a memorable day.

“I just want to have fun and end on a good note. I hope to do better than last year, but it’s not something that I worry about too much,” Rodriguez said. “The nerves are definitely still there and it’s a big auditorium. Performance anxiety has always been a big thing for me, but I’ve always found a way to overcome it in the moment.”

McRae will be the only state qualifier to return to Austin’s lineup next season. She’ll take a lot of lessons from the three seniors she’s gotten to know over the last three years as she’s already learned what it takes to improve as a gymnast.

“I worked really hard on bars this summer. The thought was to take my worst event and make it my best event; it can only go up from there,” McRae said. “I’m really proud of all of my hard work and I’m excited to compete with these seniors at state. I’ve definitely looked up to them and they’re not just teammates anymore, they’re close friends. I’ll be really sad to see them go.”

Austin’s four state qualifiers also agreed to thank their teammates and coaches.

“Without them, we probably wouldn’t have made it this far,” Klouse said.