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Eight Winona Dynamo gymnasts made their way south to Disney’s Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Fla., earlier this month to compete for Team Minnesota in the AAU National Championship.
All eight of the girls came back with at least one medal, including Courtney Benson, 16, who brought home five.
Benson won the all-around in her age group, along with taking firsts in the vault, uneven bars and balance beam. She was also fifth on the floor exercise.
“I wasn’t expecting to do as well as I did,” Benson said. “I went and did the best I could but didn’t expect that many firsts.”
Like her seven teammates, Benson walked into the WWS Complex in awe of 1,200 competitors.
“I think the only thing I said was, ‘Wow!’” Benson recalled. “We did the (grand) march with every team that was competing and the entire stadium was filled. It was crazy and so loud.”
The eight Winonans — Benson, Miranda Walch, Halle Remlinger, Crystal Franzwa, Erin Gresham, Bekka Reineke, Aileen Flanagan and Erika Degnan — qualified for nationals at a KATS meet in April in Pine Island, Minn.
Remlinger was the youngest — the youngest of all 1,200 at age 7 — while Degnan was the oldest to make the trip from Winona.
“It was like watching a junior Olympic competition with 1,200 girls competing over five days,” said Dena Degnan, the Dynamos Booster Club president. “It was pretty remarkable, and our girls held up very well.”
The meet went from June 30 to July 3. It was a memorable meet for the Winona gymnasts, even if it wasn’t always about gymnastics.
“My favorite part was the princesses,” said Remlinger, who was, of course, more excited about Disney World.
Despite her focus being diverted, Remlinger came home with a fourth-place finish in the all-around at her age group, along with fourths on the vault and beam.
Her first event was the vault, and like most of the gymnasts, the first run at an event was the hardest.
“I was pretty scared,” Remlinger said. “It was fine when I got one vault done. I didn’t really think of (the crowd).”
Erika Degnan had similar feelings at the scope of the meet.
“It was a little bit overwhelming at first, just the size of it, and getting used to the differences,” she said. “There was a lot going on, especially the first night. There was a lot of commotion. There were way more competitors than we’re used to and people we’ve never seen or competed against.”
Degnan’s first event was floor, and she probably felt a little uncomfortable, taking eighth. But after that, she fared very well with a third on the vault and beam, a fourth on the bars and a fifth-place all-around score at her age group.
“Yeah, once you got into it, you started to calm down a little bit,” she added.
Some other top finishes for the Winona gymnasts included a first on vault for Miranda Walch, who placed fourth in the all-around at her age group.
Crystal Franzwa took second in the all-around at her age. She also had a first on the beam and a third on the floor.
Erin Gresham took a first on the vault and third on the bars. She finished fourth in the all-around.
While the gymnasts will take home a lot of experiences from the competition, what Benson, Degnan and Remlinger all said they liked most was making the trip together and growing as a team.
“What I’ll remember, I would have to say, (is) just the experience,” Degnan said. “Also, getting closer with all the girls that were down there. We all got together and became a lot closer.”
