Mitchell's homegrown talents relish the chance to fulfill a state title dream
A Class AA state title would be No. 8 since 2007 for the Kernels but winning at home would carry special meaning for MHS' gymnasts
Mitchell's Emily Moody celebrates with her teammates after finishing her floor routine during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
MITCHELL — As proof of their journey to becoming Kernels, Audra Rew has the pictures of her current team members when they first started competing in gymnastics.
For some of them, that is as early as two years old, coming to Rew’s MEGA gymnastics facility and learning the skills and becoming the top high school gymnasts in the state.
So in that way, it is fitting that they will be the first Mitchell High School gymnastics team in nearly 40 years and the first in Rew’s era as head coach to come through the MEGA program with a chance to compete for a state championship on Friday in their hometown.
The Kernels are looking for an eighth Class AA team championship since 2007 and a sixth since 2014 but each of those previous victories came in Aberdeen, Brookings or Watertown. The South Dakota High School Activities Association’s state gymnastics meet takes over the Corn Palace on Friday and Saturday. The meet will open with the team competition on Friday, followed by the individual championships on Saturday. On each day, Class A will compete in the morning session starting at 10 a.m., with Class AA competing in the evening session at 4:30 p.m. each day. Tickets are sold on a per-session basis at a price of $12 for adults and $7 for students.
Mitchell’s team participants on Friday include senior Chelsey Mohr, juniors Emily Moody, Kyra Gropper and Tessa Allen, freshmen Sidney Malde, Bentley Bates, Aubrey Gelderman and Joslin Sommerville and eighth-graders Olivia Prunty and Kyanna Gropper.
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1/114: Mitchell's Emerson Smith performs her floor routine during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
2/114: Mitchell's Emily Moody performs her floor routine during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
3/114: Mitchell's Emily Moody performs her floor routine during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
4/114: Mitchell's Emily Moody performs her floor routine during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
5/114: Mitchell's Emily Moody performs her floor routine during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
6/114: Mitchell's Emily Moody performs her floor routine during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
7/114: Mitchell's Emily Moody performs her floor routine during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
8/114: Mitchell's Olivia Prunty performs her floor routine during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
9/114: Mitchell's Emily Moody celebrates with her teammates after finishing her floor routine during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
10/114: Mitchell's gymnasts cheer on a Kernel during the floor competition during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
11/114: Mitchell's Kyra Gropper performs her floor routine during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
12/114: Mitchell's gymnasts cheer on Olivia Prunty on the floor during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
13/114: Mitchell's Kyra Gropper performs her floor routine during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
14/114: Mitchell's Olivia Prunty performs her floor routine during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
15/114: Mitchell's Kyra Gropper performs her floor routine during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
16/114: Mitchell's Kyra Gropper performs her floor routine during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
17/114: Mitchell's Kyra Gropper performs her floor routine during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
18/114: Mitchell's Kyra Gropper performs her floor routine during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
19/114: Mitchell's gymnasts cheer on Kyra Gropper on the floor during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
20/114: Mitchell's Sidney Malde performs her floor routine during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
21/114: Mitchell's Kyra Gropper is congratulated by teammates after her floor routine during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
22/114: Mitchell's Sidney Malde performs her floor routine during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
23/114: Head Coach Audra Rew smiles after Kyra Gropper's floor routine during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
24/114: Mitchell's Sidney Malde performs her floor routine during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
25/114: Mitchell's Sidney Malde performs her floor routine during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
26/114: Mitchell's Sidney Malde performs her floor routine during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
27/114: Mitchell's Bentley Bates performs her floor routine during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
28/114: Mitchell's Bentley Bates performs her floor routine during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
29/114: Mitchell's Bentley Bates performs her floor routine during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
30/114: The Kernels cheer on Mitchell's Sidney Malde on the floor during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
31/114: Mitchell's Bentley Bates performs her floor routine during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
32/114: Mitchell's Bentley Bates performs her floor routine during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
33/114: Mitchell's Bentley Bates is congratulated by her teammates after her floor routine during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
34/114: Mitchell's Chelsey Mohr competes on the vault during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
35/114: Mitchell's Joslin Sommerville performs her floor routine during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
36/114: Mitchell's Bentley Bates competes in the vault during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
37/114: Mitchell's Joslin Sommerville performs her floor routine during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
38/114: Mitchell's Bentley Bates competes in the vault during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
39/114: Mitchell's Chelsey Mohr is congratulated after her vault during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
40/114: Mitchell's Olivia Prunty competes on the vault during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
41/114: Mitchell's Olivia Prunty competes on the vault during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
42/114: Mitchell's Bentley Bates competes in the vault during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
43/114: Mitchell's Kyra Gropper laughs with Chelsey Mohr while waiting to compete on the vault during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
44/114: Mitchell's Olivia Prunty competes on the vault during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
45/114: Mitchell's Kyra Gropper laughs with Chelsey Mohr while waiting to compete on the vault during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
46/114: Mitchell's Kyra Gropper competes on the vault during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
47/114: Mitchell's Kyra Gropper competes on the vault during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
48/114: Mitchell's Joslin Sommerville competes on the vault during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
49/114: Mitchell's Kyra Gropper competes on the vault during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
50/114: Mitchell's Kyra Gropper competes on the vault during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
51/114: Mitchell's Kyra Gropper waits to compete on the bars during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
52/114: The Kernels wait to compete on the bars during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
53/114: The Kernels wait to compete on the bars during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
54/114: The Kernels wait to compete on the bars during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
55/114: Mitchell's Emily Moody competes on the bars during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
56/114: Mitchell's Emily Moody competes on the bars during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
57/114: Mitchell waits to compete on the bars during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
58/114: The Kernels wait to compete on the bars during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
59/114: Assistant Coach Alisha Lockhart waits for the next competitor on the bars during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
60/114: Mitchell's Emily Moody competes on the bars during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
61/114: Mitchell's Olivia Prunty lands her dismount from the bars during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
62/114: Mitchell's Joslin Sommerville competes on the bars during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
63/114: Mitchell's Olivia Prunty competes on the bars during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
64/114: Mitchell's Joslin Sommerville competes on the bars during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
65/114: Mitchell's Bentley Bates competes on the beam during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
66/114: Mitchell's Bentley Bates competes on the beam during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
67/114: Mitchell's Bentley Bates celebrates her finish on the beam during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
68/114: Mitchell's Bentley Bates competes on the beam during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
69/114: Mitchell's Bentley Bates competes on the beam during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
70/114: Mitchell's Kyra Gropper competes on the beam during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
71/114: Mitchell's Kyra Gropper celebrates her finish on the beam during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
72/114: Mitchell's Kyra Gropper, left, and Emily Moody watch their teammates compete on the beam during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
73/114: Mitchell's Kyra Gropper competes on the beam during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
74/114: Mitchell's Olivia Prunty competes on the beam during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
75/114: Mitchell's Joslin Sommerville competes on the beam during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
76/114: Mitchell's Lainee Forst talks with Emily Moody ahead of competing on the beam during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
77/114: Mitchell's Emily Moody competes on the beam during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
78/114: Mitchell's Aubrey Gelderman competes on the beam during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
79/114: Mitchell's Joslin Sommerville competes on the beam during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
80/114: Mitchell's Aubrey Gelderman celebrates her landing from the beam during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
81/114: Mitchell's Bentley Bates celebrates her finish on the bars during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
82/114: Mitchell's Aubrey Gelderman competes on the beam during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
83/114: Mitchell's Bentley Bates competes on the bars during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
84/114: Mitchell's Bentley Bates competes on the bars during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
85/114: Mitchell's Bentley Bates competes on the bars during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
86/114: Mitchell's Kyra Gropper competes on the bars during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
87/114: Mitchell's Kyra Gropper celebrates her performance on the bars during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
88/114: Mitchell's Kyra Gropper competes on the bars during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
89/114: Mitchell's Kyanna Gropper competes on the bars during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
90/114: Mitchell's Kyanna Gropper competes on the bars during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
91/114: Mitchell's Kyra Gropper warms up on the bars during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
92/114: Mitchell's Kyra Gropper competes on the bars during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
93/114: Mitchell waits to compete on the bars during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
94/114: Mitchell's Kyanna Gropper competes on the bars during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
95/114: Mitchell's Joslin Sommerville celebrates her finish on the bars during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
96/114: Mitchell's Joslin Sommerville competes on the bars during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
97/114: Mitchell's Bentley Bates does a hand stand during warm ups for the floor routine during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
98/114: Mitchell's Chelsey Mohr leads the Kernels in their opening huddle before competing in the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
99/114: Mitchell's Chelsey Mohr leads the Kernels in their opening huddle before competing in the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
100/114: The Kernels huddle up during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
101/114: Mitchell's Emily Moody, left, and Kyra Gropper get ready to warm up on the bars during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
102/114: The Kernels get ready to warm up on the bars during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
103/114: Mitchell's Emily Moody does a hand stand against the south wall while waiting for Kernels turn at the vault during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
104/114: Mitchell's Tabitha Sadler, left, talks with her sister and Huron assistant coach Rebecca Sadler during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
105/114: The Kernels huddle up during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
106/114: Mitchell's Emerson Smith does a hand stand while the team waits to perform on the beam during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
107/114: Mitchell's Joslin Sommerville competes on the beam during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
108/114: Mitchell's Aubrey Gelderman competes on the beam during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
109/114: Mitchell's Emily Moody waits her turn to compete on the beam during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
110/114: Mitchell's Olivia Prunty competes on the beam during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
111/114: Mitchell's Emily Moody talks with coach Audra Rew while competing on the beam during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
112/114: Mitchell's Emily Moody competes on the beam during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
113/114: Mitchell's Kyra Gropper competes on the beam during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
114/114: Mitchell's Kyra Gropper, left, and Joslin Sommerville laugh while their team competes on the beam during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
In Rew’s program, young Kernels grow under her tutelage in her MEGA club gymnastics program, they learn from high school gymnasts who serve as coaches while excelling and competing for state championships, and the young girls watch and dream of getting a chance to compete like their role models before them. Many of them can name past Kernel gymnasts they looked up to while participating in MEGA’s youth program.
“We have a good reputation through MEGA and you want to keep that going when you get to a meet and compete as a Kernel,” Bates said. “You’re proud to compete as a Kernel.”
Mitchell's Sidney Malde performs her floor routine during the ESD gymnastics meet on Saturday, February 5, 2022 at the Corn Palace.
Matt Gade/Mitchell Republic
Rew said this is the second generation of Kernel gymnasts that she’s overseen from a young age. Previously, she said there was a group of MHS gymnasts that she saw from grades 1-through-5. With this current team, some of them have been coming to Rew and MEGA from soon after they started walking as toddlers.
“It does make me so excited to see all of these kids that have grown up with MEGA since the time they were little,” Rew said. “It’s just a special thing to be with these kids from such a young age.”
What makes this group of Kernels different, Rew said, is that many of them have shown a new level of commitment to gymnastics, both in the high school season and during the club tournaments.
“This is the first group of kids that I’ve had that has gotten to a high level in club program and wants to stay with it. They haven’t quit the club program,” she said. “They want to stick with it and they’re doing both. And they’re still doing track and other Kernel sports and these kids are able to juggle so many things and they want to be the best they can be at everything. I think they realize what a role gymnastics program has played in their life, whether it’s coaching or practicing in the summer or coming in while they’re doing other sports, it doesn’t matter. This is their home. This is where they feel bonded, no matter what they’re doing otherwise, this is where they feel comfortable.”
Being able to share their knowledge with younger gymnasts is something that Kernel gymnasts such as Mohr and Bates are proud to be able to do, such as dealing with the fears of perfecting a certain skill.
“A lot of what they’re going through, we’ve been there, we know what that’s like,” Bates said.
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Mitchell also has the reputation of having those young gymnasts on hand to support the high schools at the state meet. In past years, that’s involved organizing a bus for about 15 of those students to experience what the high school state meet is like. Rew said that won’t be necessary this year, and many of those MEGA gymnasts have prepared good luck messages to be shared with the Kernels before Friday’s meet begins.
“It’s special to get to compete in front of our fans and the people that support us. We know they’re going to have our back,” Mohr said.
Traxler is the assistant editor and sports editor for the Mitchell Republic. He's worked for the newspaper since 2014 and has covered a wide variety of topics. He can be reached at mtraxler@mitchellrepublic.com.
The victory likely sets up a Class AA No. 1 versus No. 3 showdown between the Kernels (9-2) and undefeated Sioux Falls Jefferson on Tuesday in Sioux Falls.
