Having switched sports for her junior year, Teagan Wielechowski is enjoying far greater success at the highest level of girls high-school gymnastics.
Individually, the standout for the Yorktown Patriots capped her initial season in prep gymnastics by finishing second in the all-around at the Virginia High School League (VHSL) state championship Feb. 21 in Virginia Beach with a 38.350 score.
That was just behind the winning total of 38.975.
“I wanted to win the all-around and could have done better in spots, but was happy with my performance,” Wielechowski told ARLnow after the competition.
In the state team competition, held Feb. 20 at the same Kellam High School venue, Yorktown finished third with a 143.950 score. The Battlefield Bobcats won with a 147.950 total with the Robinson Rams second at 147.650.
Yorktown won its only state championship in 1975, after finishing second in 1974. This year’s third-place finish was the team’s highest since 1975.
In Wielechowski’s four events, she was the co-champion on the uneven bars with a 9.725 score. She tied for third on the balance beam (9.675), was fourth on the vault (9.725) and was out of the top 10 on the floor exercise at 9.225.
“I was happy with the bars and I hit my beam routine,” Wielechowski said. “On the vault and floor, I had some ankle pain.”
Prior to the state meet, Wielechowski was the all-round champion at the Liberty District (138.375) and 6D North Region (37.5) meets. She won seven of the eight events at those two meets.
Last year, Wielechowski was a member of Yorktown’s girls diving team during the winter, so she did not participate in high-school gymnastics despite being a longtime top performer for the Arlington Aerials year-round club program.
Wielechowski eventually made the decision to give high-school gymnastics a try.
“High school gymnastics is different from club gymnastics, and now I understand how that works,” she said.
Her younger sister, Tatum, was a freshman on this season’s Yorktown team. Both plan to be on next season’s Yorktown team again.
Also at the state meet for Yorktown, senior Anya Clemmer scored a 9.075 on the floor, an 8.7 on the bars and a 8.65 on the beam. Tatum Wielechowski scored 9.5 and placed sixth on the bars and an 8.9 on the floor.
“It was really fun and exciting for the team to be at the state meet to experience that high level of high-school gymnastics,” Yorktown coach Charlotte Reilly said. “They all had a great time.”
Wakefield High School’s Maddie Wearing scored a 9.075 on the beam at states.
Yorktown entered the state having won both the district and region team championships.
“We knew the state competition was going to be strong,” Teagan Wielechowski said. “We didn’t do as well as we did at the district and region, but our spirit was very high at states.”
Also participating for Yorktown in the state team competition were Natalie Mixter, Havana Duda, Zoe Hoang, Vivian Walker, Elena Haas and Eden Cogert.
“Finishing third in the state was very good,” Reilly said. “We performed well and had a few mistakes here and there, but the experience was the best thing for the girls.”
