Everyone in North Dakota gymnastics is chasing one team, the Dickinson Midgets. They have won four straight state championships, but a new year brings new challenges.
“This year is definitely different,” head coach Casey Berry said.
Casey Berry is a first year head coach for Dickinson after serving as an assistant for the last 7 seasons.
“I don’t think much is different as far as practices go,” Berry said. “Me personally, yeah, I feel a little bit more of that now that it’s all on me and I don’t have Mr. V to help with it, of of course.”
Berry isn’t the only new face. Dickinson is welcoming a new wave of talent in the seventh grade as well. Those girls are relying on the Midgets’ one senior and two sophomores to help them stick the landing at a new level.
“Letting them know like, ‘it’s okay if you mess up. It’s fine,’ Senior Mikah Schock said. “It’s not a big deal, you know. We’re there for each other.”
The talent level is the same though, and the Midgets have made that clear with four straight wins to start the season.
Now, they’re focusing on consistency to finish the year starting on the bars and beam.
“It’s getting a ton of reps,” sophomore Amy Fridley said. “Like on beam we do as many reps, but we have to make the reps for them to count, so I think that really helps.”
If the Midgets can establish that consistency, they could be on their way to becoming the first team to win five straight titles since the 1980s.
“I think it’s just by following the course. Doing what we’re supposed to do, work on what we need to do in practice and just trust to our practice and knowing in the end we’ll get to where we need to be. We’ve just got to trust the process.”
Adding to their success, Dickinson’s Amy Fridley has won best all-around in all four meets this year.
Dickinson will return to action Thursday in Mandan.
