Oracle Online

Two weeks ago the team hosted the Hamline Triangular against the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire and Gustavus; two familiar but dangerous enemies. The Pipers have beaten both already this season but by very narrow margins. A first-place finish was by no means a forgone conclusion. For Hamline to oust Eau Claire once more, they would have to be on the top of their game in every event. Coach Doug Byrnes was confident that the team had the talent necessary to take the win, as they had shown considerable growth, but he admitted that they would need to unlock potential that hadn’t yet shown up in competition.

“[Floor and vault] are right on track. The girls are putting in a lot of hard work, and that shows,” said Byrnes. “Beam and bars are just harder events. That doesn’t take away from floor or vault, but they are extremely difficult.”

Both the balance beam and the uneven bars have proven to be Hamline’s biggest stumbling blocks this year.

“Both events involve battling continuous fear. In vault you can psyche yourself up for one big skill, but with bars you’re doing moves at a good clip and there’s no room for error,” said Byrnes.

Hamline would go on to lose both the uneven bars and the floor to Eau Claire, and with those events went the coveted first-place honors. In the end, Eau Claire was able to break out in a way that Hamline wasn’t and earned a much-deserved win in the process. However, the Pipers were able to best Gustavus once again, giving them a season sweep over the Gusties.

Byrnes still believed that his team could do more. They needed to overcome fear. Especially the fear that comes along with the bars and the beam. Alex Hughes showed her team that she was willing to push herself to get the win.

“At the [University of Minnesota] she competed a double back in competition for the first time,” said Byrnes, but the story doesn’t start or end there. In warm ups Hughes fell while attempting to perform the skill, bruising her ankles. Even so, she rose to the occasion and landed the move with grace and (what looked like) ease. The entire group would need to perform similar feats to put the loss to Eau Claire behind them as they moved into their last dual meet of the season against Winona State University.

The Pipers came out strong against Winona, taking three of the four events, but even that wasn’t enough for the win. Winona was able to garner enough points in the uneven bars competition to overcome the deficit that Hamline had amassed in the other three events, giving the Pipers one of their toughest beats of the season.

The problem is that winning a gymnastics meet isn’t just about overcoming fear; it’s about doing it, and looking darn good in the process.

“Gymnastics isn’t just about throwing big skills, it’s about throwing what you know and throwing it well. The difference between what a football player does and what our team does is that we have to look really good when we do it,” said Byrnes. “They have to be as focused as those other players, as driven, but they also have to look really good.”

This isn’t to say that the Pipers didn’t look good. On the contrary, the team was able to give one of their best performances of the season. However, Winona was able to make just one event look a little bit better on this night. Hamline came home with a sour taste in their mouth, but it is one that will sober them to the reality of their future. In order move on from the WIAC Regional competition the Pipers will have to perform outside their minds, and they’ll have to look better than they have at any point this season to do it.

“The girls need to find it within themselves to step it up. If they can’t or won’t, we’re not going to move on,” said Byrnes.

That should be an encouraging thought for this team. A team that has improved so much in a short season; a team that has tremendous talent; a team that is still capable of unleashing something that has yet to be seen.