Rosemount gymnastics vaults to higher heights

Through 16 seasons as the gymnastics coach at Rosemount High School, not one of Jason Passeri's Irish teams made the state meet.

"We were always pretty good, maybe ranked sixth or seventh [in the state] a bunch of years," Passeri said. "But then we'd have the first- or second-ranked team [in the state] in our section, and we wouldn't make it out."

The 2013-14 season proved to be lucky No. 17. After winning the South Suburban Conference title and finishing unbeaten in league meets for the second consecutive year, the Irish won the Class 2A, Section 3 tournament.

"It was great to finally break through," Passeri said.

Rosemount finished fourth at the state tournament, with eighth-grader Josey Schlie earning all-state honors in the all-around.

With much of Rosemount's state team returning — and a slew of up-and-comers ready to challenge for mat time — Passeri's 18th season has started with notice. The Irish were picked at No. 3 in the Star Tribune's preseason rankings; Schlie was the No. 5 individual.

As Passeri put it, Rosemount has gone from an afterthought to a team with a target on its back.

Schlie said she and her teammates are simply focused on improvement each day, not necessarily the end goal — which, they all admit, is another trip to state with a higher finish than last year.

Schlie has been part of the Irish's patient program-building. She's trained under Passeri for 11 years as part of his Midwest Amateur Gymnastics Association program. Passeri has worked for years, he said, to build his high school team from the foundation of that youth program. Those athletes are finally reaching high school age. In addition to Schlie, seventh-grader Sami Olson and eighth-grader Jaden Laundrie are also MAGA athletes who will play key roles this year.

"It's made a big difference just coming all the way through with him as our coach," Schlie said. "It's been really great."

"It's nice to have these sort of homegrown kids coming through and competing for us now," Passeri said. "It's made all the difference."

Rosemount won its first meet of the season on Dec. 6 at the Simley Invite. Schlie finished second in all-around and won the floor competition. Junior Olivia Ratgen finished first on bars.

Still, they will have more depth than last year's squad, Passeri said. Junior Meghan Creese was all-state on the vault last year, and junior Abby Nelson was all-state honorable mention in beam, floor and vault. The Irish also have talented seniors who are expected to contribute, including Jordyn Baker on vault.

While Rosemount goes about its training the same as last year, the athletes admit something has changed.