By no stretch of the imagination is the 2008 UW-Stout gymnastics team a senior-laden team. After all, the Blue Devils have only two seniors on their roster - and for one senior, it is her first collegiate year to compete in gymnastics.
But, third year coach Becky Beaulieu calls her team experienced.
The Blue Devils have no juniors on the squad, but have five sophomores, with four of them providing a broad base last year as freshmen and again this year.
"We don't believe we have lost a lot," Beaulieu, a former All-American at UW-La Crosse said. "We have been young in the past, but this team doesn't feel like it. This is a young team, but they are a mature group that act and perform like an upperclass team."
The Blue Devils are led by senior Ashley Timm (Eden Prairie, Minn), who earned All-American honors last season on the balance beam.
"Ashley earned that All-American award as a junior and has really matured," Beaulieu said. "She has taken to the leadership role, and is ready to go out and enjoy the sport for what it is.
"Ashley is a perfectionist and she tends to put pressure on herself. She covered the bases last year. Now, if she can add onto that, it is just icing on the cake."
The sophomore class consists of two-time All-American Meghan Hargens (Rosemount, Minn), Angela Blankenship (Greenwood, Ind), Rachel Manz (St. Paul, Minn), Morgan Trumble (Woodbury, Minn) and Raquel Korpi (Otsego, Minn).
Hargens opened some eyes last year by breaking the school record in the all-around, scoring a 37.675, earning all-WIAC honors and snagging All-American honors on the floor exercise and in the all-around with a fourth place finish.
"As a freshman, it was impressive for Meghan to take fourth in the all-around at the national meet," said Beaulieu. "She is a talented, tough performer who works hard and has a love of the sport."
Blankenship and Trumble also competed as all-arounders last season, and Manz competed in three events.
"Angela has a ton of raw talent," Beaulieu said. "She wants to achieve goals she set from last season. She has been working hard in and out of practice. As she enters her sophomore year, Angela has her head in the right place."
Blankenship, along with Trumble, came up just short in qualifying to the national meet.
Trumble is a predictable performer, said Beaulieu.
"You know what you will be getting from Morgan each night," Beaulieu added. "She should be right back in there on all four events."
Manz has been working the vault and balance beam, but her strength has been the uneven bars.
"Rachel is the only Stout gymnast to ever obtain a start value of 10.0 on the bars," Beaulieu said.
Korpi, who competes on the vault and the floor exercise, was injured for much of last year and is starting this season injured.
Two freshmen are expected to challenge the sophomores for spots in the starting lineups.
Naomi DeLara (Kahului, Hawaii) has probably come the longest distance to compete for Stout. When Beaulieu lived and worked on the island of Maui, DeLara was a sophomore on the local club team.
DeLara is an all-arounder whose strengths are the beam and the floor. DeLara placed fifth in the all-around at the Level 10 Junior Olympics Nationals. Four advance to the national team.
DeLara is a quiet competitor "who gets in a zone" on competition day, Beaulieu said.
Megan Roller (Fr, Greenwood, Ind) joined high school teammate Blankenship at Stout.
"Megan has more potential than 95 percent of college gymnasts," Beaulieu said. "If she gets after it, she will have a good collegiate gymnastics career."
In high school, Roller scored a 10.0 on the vault. Roller and Blankenship have retained their friendship from home and have also brought a level of competitiveness with each other.
"They push each other and are real competitive, in a good way," Beaulieu said. Roller is expected to compete as an all-arounder.
Freshmen Brittany Beyer (Wahpeton, ND), Melanie Bauer (Reedsburg), Megan Dahl (Andover, Minn), Alison Thoms (Manitowoc), Rozlyn Ramlow (Delano, Minn), Erika Meyer (Clintonvllle) and senior Abby Denzer-Johnson (Winona, Minn) could all challenge for spots.
Beyer finished second on uneven bars at the North Dakota state meet.
"Brittany has been self-taught," Beaulieu said, "there were only two girls on her high school team."
Bauer finished sixth on the vault at the Wisconsin state meet. Dahl is expected to be a floor competitor. Thoms was out for a year, and decided she needed to get back to the competition.
Meyer brings in a stick-to-it-ness adopted from her mother, who competed for UW-Whitewater. Meyer's mother did not make the Warhawk lineup for a couple of years, but eventually broke in on the uneven bars.
"Erika came in here wanting to compete on the bars," Beaulieu said.
Ramlow has been out of gymnastics for several years, but was a strong gymnast in high school "who can't seem to get gymnastics out of her blood," Beaulieu said.
Denzer-Johnson had a very good high school career and was recruited to compete by several universities. She elected to pursue academics. Denzer-Johnson is a graduate student at Stout, and decided to take advantage of the one year of competition she has remaining. She is expected to add depth on the floor and balance beam line-ups.
Beaulieu believes the experience her young team gathered last year will help them move up in the conference.
"Compared to previous years, this team seems like a group of vets," Beaulieu said. "They know what college gymnastics is like and what needs to be done.
"This team has jelled. We have 15 performers all working for one common goal."
The Blue Devils open the season Friday, Jan. 11 at Winona State. Stout is home Friday, Jan. 25 when they host the John Zuerlein Invitational at 6 p.m.