Lancaster junior Haley Hentrich and the rest of her Platteville/Belmont/Lancaster teammates wouldn’t be denied.
Hentrich turned in the best meet of her three-year gymnastics career and got plenty of help from Jackie Runde, Courtney Bowen and company as the Hillmen dominated last Friday’s Southwest Wisconsin Conference Championships and won a third straight SWC championship.
Hentrich won all four events and finished first in all-around competition with a score of 36.575 as Platteville/Belmont/Lancaster held off surging Southwestern/Cuba City 136.275-133.45 to win Friday’s meet.
Runde medaled in all four events and finished second only to Hentrich in the all-around with a score of 34.775.
Friday’s win combined with a perfect 4-0 regular season record in SWC duals gave the Hillmen a third straight overall conference title.
The Wildcats, who went 2-2 in SWC duals, tied for second place with River Valley in the final conference standings.
“As the team competed in the conference meet it was evident the hard work they put in through the season was paying off,” said Hillmen coach Jessica Hill. “Haley had the best meet of her career. Jackie also had a great day, medaling in four events. Courtney struggled on bars and vault but kept her head together helping the team to win the conference title.
“The consistency and strength of these three gymnasts along with the improvement of Brianna Gardner, Brooke Groom, and Danielle Jentz put us in a good position going into sectionals.
The Hillmen will host a WIAA Division 2 sectional this Thursday night.
SWC Conference Meet
(from Friday, Feb. 17, @ Platteville)
Team scores - 1.Platteville/Belmont/Lancaster 136.275, 2.Southwestern/Cuba City 133.45, 3.River Valley 130.775, 4.Dodgeville/Mineral Point 100.9, 5.Prairie du Chien/Richland Center 90.7.
Final SWC standings - 1.Platteville/Belmont/Lancaster, 2(tie).Southwestern/Cuba City, 2(tie).River Valley, 4.Dodgeville/Mineral Point, 5.Prairie du Chien/Richland Center.
Platteville/Belmont/Lancaster’s participants
All-around - 1.Haley Hentrich 36.575, 2.Jackie Runde 34.775, 10.Courtney Bowen 31.650.
Vault - 1.Hentrich 8.90, 6.Hentrich 8.350, 8.Danielle Jentz 8.250, 9(tie).Bowen 8.20, 13.Brooke Groom 7.750.
Uneven Bars - 1.Hentrich 9.175, 2(tie).Runde 8.450, 10.Brianna Gardner 7.750, 12.Jentz 7.60, 14.Bowen 6.80.
Balance Beam - 1.Hentrich 9.10, 2.Runde 8.80, 7.Gardner 8.20, 12.Bowen 7.650, 16.Groom 6.775.
Floor Exercise - 1.Hentrich 9.40, 2.Runde 9.175, 5.Bowen 9.00, 12.Groom 8.275, 14.Jentz 7.950.
Hillmen gymnasts wrap up SWC three-peat