Girls’ Gymnastics Team Competes at State

In their inaugural season, the University School of Milwaukee girls’ gymnastics team, competing as a co-op with Shorewood High School, advanced to the WIAA state gymnastics meet at Wisconsin Rapids High School. Their showing at state followed a 2nd place finish at the team sectionals in Waterford, Wisconsin.

Representing USM at the Division 2 state competition were Poppy Fetherston ’27, Gabi Ortiz Fleet ’26, Nina Harris ’26, and Josie Merluzzi-Hitler ’26. The four USM athletes helped Shorewood advance to state as a team and were a part of an entry that placed 10th in Division 2, with a total score of 130.900. Merluzzi-Hitler and Ortiz Fleet competed in all four events for the team, while Harris competed in bars, floor, and vault and Fetherston competed in the floor routine. Harris earned a 7.883 on vault, while Fetherston scored a 7.933 on floor.

In individual competition, Ortiz Fleet claimed 16th in the all-around with a score of 34.817. That included earning a medal with a score of 8.883 on bars, good for 5th place. She also scored a 9.150 on floor, taking 12th in that event. Rounding out her total score was an 8.617 on beam (tied for 15th) and an 8.167 on vault (26th).

Merluzzi-Hitler took 20th in the all-around competition with a score of 34.400. She just missed earning an individual medal when she took seventh on floor with a score of 9.317. Her other scores were 8.500 (vault), 8.417 (bars), and 8.167 (beam).

“I am thrilled with the success of our gymnastics co-op,” said Tim Williams, director of athletics. “In its first year, our girls have experienced incredible success and it's made us very proud. They have been successful on and off the mat, and their qualification for the state championships was a product of that. I had high hopes for our gymnastics team, but they have exceeded expectations. They deserve a ton of credit.”