After defeating UW-Stout on Friday, the Blugolds gymnastics team is ready to do it again at the WIAC conference meet this weekend.

The team scored 171.55 over Stout’s 167.1 last weekend, surpassing the 170 mark for the fifth time this season.

“The win against Stout will definitely give us more confidence,” said freshman Adria Walin, who finished second all-around at Stout with a score of 35.125 and tied with freshman teammate Alison Eagles on bars.

“We always knew it was in us, and now we know we can do it,” she said.

Eagles, who placed third all-around at Stout, expects success at the conference meet.

“I’m looking forward to the next competitions,” she said, “because I think with hard work and determination we can be very successful.”

Sophomore Kristina Reitzel, who received the second highest score in bars in Eau Claire history, feels optimistic about conference.

“The win has really given us a positive attitude going into conference,” Reitzel said. “The team is really excited to go to conference and show all the hard work we have been doing.”

The team’s goal for the conference is to be aggressive, Eagles said.

“(Our) main focus for conference is to go big and don’t hold back,” she said. “Strive for excellence, intimidate and dominate, and be impressive.”

Walin said that she is looking forward to having fun at conference.

“Our team is so close to each other and so supportive,” she said. “It just helps make every meet fun.”

In preparation for conference, the coaches are keeping a close eye on the team, Walin said.

“They are being a little more critical, you know, telling us that we’re a little sloppy on one skill or telling us what we did right on another,” she said.

Head coach Lisa McIntyre said that the win proved to the gymnasts that they can apply their skills to win.

“Now, we’ll just have to do the same thing and fine-tune the details at conference,” McIntyre said.

The team’s sense of spirit develops excitement for conference, Walin said.

“I’m just excited to show everyone what we are capable of and how close we are as a team,” Walin said. “I think our team spirit definitely outweighs that of any other team.”

After their win over Stout, the team plans to follow the winning pattern, McIntyre said.

“We’re looking to raise the bar from our win against Stout,” McIntyre said. “Our performance at Stout is the stepping stone. We’re going to try to go uphill from there.”