The prospects of the Holmen High School gymnastics team earning an eighth consecutive trip to the Division 2 state meet didn't look good at all after two rotations during Friday's sectional at Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau. Holmen trailed host G-E-T/Mel-Min/C-FC by more than two points after GMC had scores of 9.4 points or higher on each of its final three floor exercise routines.

The Vikings made up 1.425 points of that deficit in the third rotation. But in a meet that literally came down to the final three HHS vaults, Hannah Noel, Emma Waffenschmidt and Erin Jennings all hit tsukaharas on one of their two vaults, lifting Holmen to finishing .575 of a point ahead of GMC and at Wisconsin Rapids Lincoln Saturday afternoon for an eighth straight year.

While Waffenschdmidt and Jennings capped the improbable comeback, Noel's effort on vault brought back memories of Kerri Strug in the 1996 Olympics. Noel just missed her first tsuk attempt, but limped back to the head of the runway, while trying to wipe back tears. She hit the second vault and limped off the mat into the waiting arms of Vikings head coach Karen Kuhlmann.

“My biggest goal was to make it to state on vault,” Noel said. “Maybe it's a blessing that I didn't make it though, because I don't know if my ankle would make it through two more meets.

“I overrotated my first one and my ankle hurt really badly, but normally I just need a couple minutes to walk it off and I'm fine. But I didn't have that long between my vaults, so it was really hard and I had a lot of pain going into my second one. But I knew I had to do it.”

“They always have something more to give and they know when they have to give it,” Kuhlmann said. “We struggled on a few events tonight, but when the going got tough, the tough got going.

“I have so much admiration for this group of kids. They easily could have thrown in the towel, and more than one time.”

Noel competed in just three events. The senior was an all-around earlier in her career, but the aforementioned ankle injury has made that near-impossible.

“I loved being an all-around,” Noel said. “But if I have to give up floor to vault, so be it. My ability isn't as high as it used to be on floor.”

The comeback appeared to have lost some steam after Waffenschmidt looked to have had the best routine of the night on floor. It was scored at 9.15, however.

“I was pretty upset because it's my senior year and I really wanted to make it (individual state) on floor, but I'll be able to show my stuff at team state,” Waffenschmidt said. “Making the (individual) all-around is just icing on the cake.”

Cassie Noel also set a career-best with her 9.15 on floor. The comeback was needed in large part because Holmen took six falls on beam.

“Staying on made me the beam champion,” Hannah Noel said. “I never would have thought that would have happened.. But I was very solid and I didn't wiggle very much.”

The Vikings also ended inauspiciously on bars. Cassie Noel completed her back release move, while Hannah Noel and Jennings each hit their giants, leading Noel to her second-best bars score of the season. But Jennings missed her piked dismount.

“I think I had a really good bar routine,” Noel said. “My giants weren't very big, but I pulled them off. I thought it was one of my better routines of the season.”

Noel and Waffenschmidt both were members of the HHS 2005 and 2006 state champions.

“We have the capability to win, we really do,” Noel said. “Our ability isn't quite as good as the two state champions, but we're pretty darned close.

“But we're a lot more of a close-knit team this year. It's the closest team I've ever been on.”

Waffenschmidt said, “We really want to break the 140 (team score) mark,” Waffenschmidt said. “If that puts us in the No. 1 spot, it puts us in the No. 1 spot.”

Kuhlmann said, “You don't go to state to finish second,” Kuhlmann said. “I think this team still has a lot of room to improve.”

Waffenschmidt and Kuhlmann also said this year's team bears little resemblence to the 2005 and 2006 teams, other than the location of their final meet. River Falls, which won Friday's meet at 141.925, and Antigo, which scored a 140.625 in late January, appear to be Saturday's team favorites.

“This team is completely different than the two state (championship) teams,” Waffenschmidt said. “We actually have to work. We had depth those two years, but we've had to work so much harder to get to where we are now. With the sectional competition, it wasn't just a free ride, either.”

Kuhlmann said, “It's a lot different team than the two state (champion) teams, but they have the same drive and passion for the sport,” Kuhlmann said. “They don't have the benefit of depth, so that makes this a much harder-earned victory.”