Austin senior Maddie Mullenbach recently wrapped up her high school gymnastics career with a solid performance at the Minnesota Class A state gymnastics meet and now she’s ready to move on to the next level of competition.

Mullenbach recently committed to compete for Division III University of Wisconsin-Stout, which is located in Menomonie, Wis. Mullenbach was equally concerned with both the qualify of education her choice of school would offer along with the quality of the gymnasts program. She narrowed it down to Stout and UW-La Crosse before picking Stout after her school visit.

“Their coaching staff is phenomenal and I felt like I was at home. They really made me feel wanted,” Mullenbach said. “I think it’ll be a good balance for me. I don’t think I’m ready for no gymnastics in my life. It’ll make it easier to start school by having a support system. I’ll have friends to start off with and they can help me branch off and find more friends.”

Mullenbach was an incredibly consistent gymnast in her five years with the Packers. In five appearances at the Minnesota Class A state individual gymnastics meet, Mullenbach has been on the podium 16 times, she has been in the top-five of the all-around all five years and she has taken home three state titles — in the floor in 2017 and in the all-around and beam in 2016. She also competed in five Class ‘A’ state team meets with the Packers.

Mullenbach said it is tough to pick out any particular memories that stand out after so many years and so many big meets.

“Sometimes I forget that I’ve been in it that long and with my teammates for that long,” Mullenbach said. “It’s hard to think that far back. I’ve made so many memories and it’s been a bittersweet recap. I’m going to miss it a lot.”

Mullenbach is looking to make an impact on the floor for the Blue Devils early on and she thinks she may have a chance to be an all-arounder by her sophomore season. But she’s not rushing into it and she’s willing to put in the time that it takes to improve.

While many elite high school gymnasts forgo their high school teams to compete for a club team, but Mullenbach was glad that she stuck with the Packers. At one point, she considered joining a club team to challenge herself, but she couldn’t walk away from her team.

“I didn’t want to drop off the face of the earth and leave my teammates hanging,” Mullenbach said. “They’d been in my life forever and it would’ve been weird to leave them. It’s hard to leave them now. You don’t want to say goodbye to those faces that you’ve seen for the past 10 years of my life.”

Mullenbach plans on keeping touch with her Packer teammates next season and she hopes to attend a couple of meets.
A CAREER OF CONSISTENCY

Austin’s Maddie Mullenbach has had a lot of success at the Minnesota Class A state gymnastics meet.

2017

All-Around (second); vault (second); floor (first)

2016

All-Around (first); vault (fourth); bars: (fourth); beam (first); floor (third)

2015

All-Around (fifth); floor (fifth)

2014

All-Around (fifth); vault (sixth); floor (third)

2013

All-Around (fourth); vault (third); floor (third)