Austin gymnasts, left to right, Abby Bickler, Selena Hataye and Carolyn Hackel will all compete in the Class 'A' state individual gymnastics meet at the University of Minnesota Sports Pavilion in Minnesota this Saturday at 11 a.m. -- Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com

Look for Profiles 2011 in the Sunday, Feb. 27 edition of the Austin Daily Herald. Read about dozens of inspirational community members and standouts in the 84-page special section on Sunday.

Austin will be sending three first time state-qualifying gymnasts to the Class ‘A’ state individual meet at the University of Minnesota Sports Pavilion in Minneapolis Saturday at 11 a.m.

But the state meet shouldn’t be too much pressure for any of the athletes, who have all been a part of big meets before.

Eighth graders Abby Bickler and Carolyn Hackel, who will both compete in floor exercise, each competed at the team state meet for Austin last season and senior Selena Hataye has performed in plenty of venues, including the Sports Pavilion, while competing for a USGA club team in Rochester the past few years.

“Having been at state once, they won’t spend as much time looking around and watching the other girls,” Austin head coach Mark Raymond said. “They expect it and they know they belong there, that helps a ton with focus and preparation.”

Bickler and Hackel both suffered through broken toes during the season and Bickler is now dealing with an ankle injury on the verge of competing at state that she will brush off and fight through. Neither of them is about to complain, as they don’t mind working through pain.

“It’s depends on how much you want it and if you’re going to push yourself,” Bickler said. “Sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn’t.”

Hackel broke her toe last week, but she wasn’t about to sit out the section meet, so she fought through the pain and went on.

“I didn’t want to throw away a chance of going to state for a toe,” she said.

If Hackel had an reservations about competing, it didn’t take her long to find her motivation when she ran into a gymnast from another team that had broken her toe two weeks ago. It was the same injury that Hackel had suffered just three days earlier.

“She came in with crutches and this bedazzled boot and I don’t think she planned on competing. She did end up doing bars,” Hackel said. “But I felt I had to show her up a little.”

Bickler and Hackel are both fierce competitors and they’ve also been best friends since they met for the first time two years ago at their first gymnastics practice.

“We pretty much know each other like sisters. We’re best friends and good teammates,” Bickler said.

Bickler took first at the Section 1A meet with a career-best score of 9.6. That score is amongst the top qualifying scores in the state coming into the weekend and Bickler is feeling confident with it.

For Hataye, who will compete in the bars and vault, she is looking to go out strong. After competing in club meets all of her career, she’s ready to represent Austin High School at state.

“I love being able to represent my school and it’s the first time I’ve gotten to do it,” Hataye said. “I’m just hoping to have a good time and do my best. That’s all I can hope for.”

Hataye is embracing being part of a team, where she can meet up with her teammates after practice and hang out.

“It’s nice to have a team to cheer for you when you’re competing,” she said. “And it’s fun to cheer them on. I think we’re going to do awesome at this meet. Abby and Carolyn have a great shot at floor.”

Raymond is also confident in the Packers’ chances at the state meet.

“We’ve got to get healthy and they’ve got to throw a good routine and hit it,” Raymond said. “If they can do those things, seeing them on the award stand (top six) wouldn’t surprise me. But there’s a lot to do there and the best girl doesn’t always win. You can have an off day.”

The Packers are feeling pretty good about their squad right now. After making it to state last season for the first time in school history, they took second at the section meet this season.

Besides Hackel and Bickler, the Packers will also bring back a strong core of other gymnasts.

“We’ve had a pretty good season and I’m real excited about the future of this program,” Raymond said. “We’re real young and we’ve got a few seventh graders that are right behind (Hackel and Bickler). The future’s kind of bright for this program and the girls are already excited about what they’re going to do this summer.”

Hackel said that team is good about motivating each other as everyone is trying to improve.

“On every team there are girls that our better than other girls,” Hackel said. “But the girls that are the underdogs are kind of trying to match the older girls. We have a strong team and a lot girls on JV are doing the same routines as the varsity girls.”