The Austin gymnastics team is sending three of its athletes to the individual Section 1A state meet and it just missed a team berth as it took second at the Section 1A meet in Winona Saturday.

Selena Hataye, a senior, and eighth graders Abby Bickler and Carolyn Hackel all advanced to the individual state meet for Austin.

Bickler and Hackel both advanced in the floor exercise, despite the fact that they each had a broken toe.

Bickler, who took first in floor and was seventh in all-around, broke her toe a while back but was still in some pain, and Hackel, who took fourth, broke her toe on Wednesday and almost missed the section meet.

Hackel sat out Thursday’s practice and went light on Friday before stepping up on Saturday.

“These girls are both in eighth grade but they don’t behave like eighth graders, they behave like juniors or seniors. It shows these kids have a lot of heart and character,” Austin head Mark Raymond said.

Bickler’s score of 9.6 on the floor was 1.75 points ahead of the next competitor.

“Abby did a great job on a beautiful routine,” Raymond said. “It was clean and it was easy for the judges to score it.”

Hataye, a senior who had competed in club gymnastics in previous years, is advancing to state in the vault, where she took fourth, and the bars, where she was third. She just missed a trip to state in the floor when she had an early fall. Hataye, who was fifth in all-around, still finished 10th in floor.

“Selana’s been great to coach this year,” Raymond said. “She’s a top-15 girl in every event and she deserves to be showcased at the state meet.”

As a team, the Packers put up a season high 139.775 points, but Pine Island was even better with a score of 143.7.

Austin edged Pine Island in the floor and bars, but the big difference was beam, where Pine Island had the top three finishers and it scored 36 on the event as a squad.

“I couldn’t have asked for more from our team,” Raymond said. “Our girls did what they were supposed to do but Pine Island is a great team.”

AUSTIN RESULTS

Vault: Selena Hataye (fourth, 9.25); Abby Bickler (eighth, 9.075); Carolyn Hackel (eighth, 9.075); Abby Snater (10th, 8.95); Hannah Voogd (14th, 8.875)

Bars: Selena Hataye (third, 8.75); Abby Bickler (fifth, 8.525); Carolyn Hackel (eighth, 8.425); Abby Snater (11th, 8.25); Ila Anderson (19th, 7.95)

Beam: Abby Snater (10th, 8.55); Selena Hataye (13th, 8.45)

Floor: Abby Bickler (first, 9.6); Carolyn Hackel (fourth, 9.375); Selena Hataye (10th, 8.975)

All-around: Selena Hataye (fifth, 35.425); Abby Bickler (seventh, 35.325)