By Matt Gade

605 Sports

HARRISBURG — In the five years since Harrisburg head coach Callie Aylward took over the school’s gymnastics program, a key constant has been Katelyn Maeschen.

“It's actually funny because we joke that I've been there longer than her, because I was there my seventh-grade year, and then she joined my eighth-grade year,” Maeschen said of coach Aylward. “There's definitely been a lot of changes, and definitely been a lot of mindset shifts that we both kind of have had as the years go on and as our team just gets more and more talented, and I think that that's been for the better. 

“I mean, truly, we both have grown, I think, and grown together honestly. I think she's the best coach. She is the best coach that this program has ever had.”

Maeschen is one of three seniors for the Tigers’ gymnastics squad and the longest member of the team. Fellow senior Jersy Tryon joined the team in her eighth-grade year, while a student of coach Aylward’s at South Middle School. 

Fellow senior Jaycie Adams came out for gymnastics this year.

During her time at Harrisburg, Maeschen has racked up the wins. 

Maeschen is the two-time defending Class AA All-Around champion, winning her sophomore and junior years. While the Tigers are the defending state champions, with a state meet record of 152.9833 last year.

“I feel pretty certain, just with some conversations that we have had. It's not one of Katelyn’s goals to try to three-peat this year,” Aylward said. “I think she's definitely more focused on the team and putting team goals first… I mean, she's been having a ton of individual success, I think in large part because she's also been growing as a teammate.

“Her focus definitely has not been on ‘what do I need to do to get to all-around,’ but more on what do we need to do as a team to be able to perform as a team to our highest level.”

That mindset of team over self is something Aylward said has been Maeschen’s biggest change since their first year together.

“When I started with her, her eighth-grade year to now this year, coming from the club world, the club is a much more individualized version of gymnastics, just because they're oftentimes split up by age level,” Aylward said. “So you may not always be competing with your team.

“So when they come to high school, learning how to compete as a team, it's just a very different concept, and that maybe wasn't her area of strength initially as an eighth grader, and it's definitely a challenging concept, especially for middle school and high school students. So I think that that's an area that I've really seen her grow in, and specifically her senior year here, just really stepping up and putting the team first.”

Last year, Maeschen not only took the All-Around, with a score of 38.65, but she also took first on the floor with a 9.7833. Maeschen also finished second in the bars and vault, and fifth in the beam. 

This year, Maeschen has top marks in all four events with  9.875 in floor, 9.825 on beam, 9.7 on the vault and 9.8 on the bars. Maeschen also has a 39.025 leading in the All-around, with Mitchell's Kyanna Gropper second with a 38.450.

“It's exciting for sure to know that that is on the line,” Maeschen said of a three-peat. “But honestly, I feel like this year, my number one goal at state is just to have fun and enjoy the last moments. Because, I mean, it's never something I'll get back again. 

“It's never something I get to do again. So I mean, it'll be a fun goal to achieve, but also, I feel like I'm just very excited to enjoy the last moments with my team.”

Maeschen has committed to compete in track and field for the Red Raiders of Northwestern College in Orange City, Iowa.

Harrisburg's Katelyn Maeschen competes on the bars during the Pierre Invitational on Dec. 6 at Pierre T.F. Riggs High School. (Matt Gade/605 Sports)

With just four competitions left before the state meet, Maeschen said she’s really trying to enjoy her senior season as much as possible.

Maeschen said she isn’t doing club this year, so the state meet on Feb. 13-14 in Mitchell will be her last gymnastics competition of her career.

For Maeschen, the state meet in Mitchell will be a full-circle moment as the Tiger started her gymnastics career in Mitchell before her family moved to Harrisburg.

“I think it's going to be a very, very emotional weekend knowing that where I started is where I'll end,” Maeschen said. “I think it's going to be super sentimental, and it honestly means a lot that I get to have that experience and have the ability to start where I ended. 

“It'll definitely be filled with a lot of emotions, and it'll definitely be something that I'll cherish and that I'll never forget, just because with Audra (Rew) being the head coach (at Mitchell), she was my coach from the very beginning, and so I think it's just an honor to be able to finish where I started, but it's even more of an honor to finish as a Tiger.”

With three seniors graduating from last year’s squad, this year’s Tigers team is a very different team, but still has the potential to break their own state meet record, according to Aylward and Maeschen. 

“I know I'm biased, but these are just the most special group of individuals. I'm truly blessed to be able to be a part of this team. They genuinely care for each other,” Aylward said. “It's not easy to place team above individual, and I'm watching them do it in real time, and it's really so inspiring and to genuinely celebrate each other's successes. 

“Katelyn is a phenomenal athlete, and she deserves all the accolades. But you cannot win a team title, and you can't break 20-year-old records without that second and third and fourth, and then that depth. Sometimes it’s that seventh and eighth person who is there given the pep talks, it really does take the whole team, and we have a group of about 10 girls who are really just kind of committed to this vision.”

Maeschen said the team calls their ‘team above self’ mentality, a “Tiger mentality.”

With less than three weeks til the state meet, Aylward said no matter how the Tigers perform, it will be an emotional day.

“Katelyn, Jersey and I were all at South Middle School together when they were eighth graders, and I was teaching eighth-grade math, so yeah, it will definitely be an emotional state meet,” Aylward said. “But that's something working on being mentally strong that we will just attempt to kind of compartmentalize and focus on the task at hand, and then I'm sure we will all just lose it when it's over.”