John's Journal: Gymnastics Team Makes History At Albany

ALBANY -- Decades from now, a small group of dedicated female athletes will look back with pride at what they accomplished in their time at Albany High School. Their numbers are small but they are pioneers as members of the school’s very first varsity gymnastics team.

If there is a younger varsity team in the state in any sport, it would be a surprise. The Huskies consist of 12 gymnasts; the team captains and oldest team members are ninth-graders Candace Berckes and Grace Grabmeier, with the others all seventh- and eighth-graders.

The Huskies competed as a junior varsity squad last season, giving the girls some important experience.

“Last season went well,” said head coach Dana Cartier. “There was definitely a learning curve for all of us.”

Cartier, a 2006 graduate of nearby Melrose High School, was a state champion in the vault and placed fourth in the all-around competition as a senior. She and assistant coach Zach Eggert lead an energetic group of athletes.

The season started with a bang when the Huskies won a dual competition at Little Falls. Berckes was ill and missed the meet, and Grabmeier suffered an injury during the meet and had departed before it ended, but by all accounts the bus ride back to Albany was a fun time.

“That was a morale booster,” Cartier said. “When they announced the scores, I saw their jaws drop.”

The team’s home is the headquarters of the Albany Area Gymnastics Association, a new facility located across Interstate 94 from the high school. More than 400 young kids come to the site every week to have fun and learn about gymnastics, so starting a team on the high school level made sense.

Cartier is a member of the board of directors of the Albany Area Gymnastics Association, which attracts kids from Albany and other communities. The high school program is a cooperative team, with athletes from Holdingford as well as Albany.

“It's a good program for kids and they did all the right things,” said Albany activities director Scott Buntje. “I think it’s something that we’ll see continue to grow. It’s a chance to compete, and that’s what this is all about.”

The youth gymnastics program’s first home was a former elementary school in the nearby village of Farming. Now the Farming Community Center, the gymnastics equipment was squeezed into a tiny gym and classroom space was used for some kids.

“It was not an ideal setting,” Buntje said. “When they approached the school, we said they needed to build a feeder program and they needed a facility. And they did it. They did everything they should have. They built the program, they raised funds, they got area athletes involved. And it’s a beautiful facility.”

The rarity of being a first-year varsity team is not lost on the Huskies.

“Girls from other teams will say things like, ‘No way this is their first varsity team,’ ” said Grabmeier. “Last year, Candace and I talked a lot about how we're making history with being the first captains and now being captains on the first varsity team.

“I love the atmosphere and I love the aspect of gymnastics being in an individual sport. It is a team sport but it's more individual skills.”

Asked about the present as well as the future, Berckes smiled and said, “I really like being with this group of people, they're all really, really nice people. We all support each other because we all really want everybody to succeed. It's a competition and we're all competing against each other, but it feels more like we all want to compete as one because we all want everybody to do well.

“The goal is to get to state, but I think we're all just out here having fun at this point. We just try to be the best we can because we know if we try our best and give our all, we will get there one day.”

--MSHSL senior content creator John Millea has been the leading voice of Minnesota high school activities for decades. Follow him on Twitter @MSHSLjohn and listen to "Preps Today with John Millea” wherever you get podcasts. Contact John at [email protected]