The Packer gymnastics team is happy to be competing in their third straight Class ‘A’ state meet Friday, but they’re hoping to do more than just compete.

They want to win it all.

Austin, which placed third at the state meet last season, will take another shot at a state title when it competes at the University of Minnesota Sports Pavilion in Minneapolis Friday at 11 a.m. Austin will also have four gymnasts competing in the Class ‘A’ individual state meet at the Sports Pavilion Saturday at 11 a.m.

Austin junior Carolyn Hackel is one three Packers who was on the team that made Austin’s first ever trip to the state meet in 2010 and she’s seen the gymnastics program improve every year from that point.

“We want to leave our legacy. We want people to remember us,” Hackel said “A few of us were part of the first team that made it to state for Austin and we want to be the first team that wins a state tournament. This year is the year to do it and we know we can do it.”

Austin broke the state record in floor exercise last season and it topped that mark at the Big Nine meet this year. The Packers set a record for the best score in school history with a 149.8 at the Big Nine meet and they’re hoping to put an even bigger number up at the state meet.

“We work all season for this day. We put a lot of emphasis on getting ready to be a team at team state, where we’ll throw our best,” Austin head coach Mark Raymond said. “We haven’t really had a big day where everybody who walked out of the gym was feeling like they got everything they could’ve. I’m hoping we can have that day on Friday. That would be a fun day to have.”

Austin will have plenty of competition at this year’s state meet. Defending state champion New Prague, Melrose, which took second place at state last season, and Detroit Lakes all put up similar section meet scores to Austin’s score of 149.225 on Saturday.

Austin does have the advantage of finishing with its best two events — floor and vault. The Packers will begin on bars and compete in the beam second.

“It’s going to be a very exciting meet to be a part of. It is not going to be determined until the last girl throws the last routine,” Raymond said. “Nobody is going to walk away from the field in this group.”

Austin is well aware of the competition, but the Packers are more concerned about what they’re going to be doing. Austin junior Abby Bickler said that if Austin does its best, it should be just fine.

“You always think about what the other teams are doing, but we can’t control what they’re doing and we can’t control what the judges hand out,” she said. “We can go out there and we can do as much as we can to hit our routines twenty for twenty as a team. If we do that, the best team comes out on top and hopefully that will be us.”

The Packers are going with five all-arounders in their lineup at the state meet, which is something they haven’t done in the past. Sela Fadness, Bickler, Hackel, Maddie Mullenbach and Jennifer Boyle will be competing for Austin. Boyle will be making her first appearance at the state meet, but the other four Packers have competed at the team and individual state meets.

Fadness said the team has a different feel to it this season.

“It’s harder because we have eleven girls on our team who work very hard in practice every day. You feel for them and you know how hard they’re working. It’s hard for us socially as a team, but dynamically we’ve figured it out a little bit,” Fadness said. “Everybody on our team has stepped up this year, even if they’re not going to be competing at the state tournament. Our sixth, seventh and eighth girls who nobody has seen compete have roughly the same skills as the girls that are competing.”

As Friday draws closer, the Packers may grow a little more nervous, but they aren’t taking their eyes off the prize.

“We’re all very motivated to bring home a banner for our fans, for all of Austin and for ourselves,” Bickler said.

There will be a student fan bus leaving from Austin High School leaving Austin High School at approximately 8 a.m. and returning at approximately 3:30 p.m. Students can sign up for the bus at the cashier’s window.