When coach Lisa McIntyre looks over her team at practice she sees the promise for the team to do “wonderful things.”

The team will show up for a meet, but sometimes that promise won’t.

But on Friday the team’s promise showed through as the Blugolds took third place at the conference meet with a team record of 174.30 points.

“They’re capable of doing lots of wonderful things, but at times they can’t put it all together,” McIntyre said. “I am extremely proud of the girls. They performed like I know they are capable of performing.”

The night was capped off by junior Erin Henrich, who tied for first place in the beam competition with a score of 9.2 – the third-highest score in Eau Claire history.

“It was a wonderful routine. It was one of the best routines I have even seen her do,” McIntyre said. “She was solid as a rock up there … no wobbles whatsoever.”

Freshman Adria Walin and sophomore Kristina Reitzel were the top finishers for the Blugolds in the all-around competition. They tied for seventh with a score of 35.3 points.

Freshman Alison Eagles finished tied for third in the vault with a score of 9.25 for the Blugolds. Reitzel finished with a score of 9.15 in that competition, good for sixth place.

The conference meet marks the fourth time the team broke the 170-point barrier this year. Before this season the gymnastics team broke the mark just once.

A large part of that is due to Eagles, Reitzel and Walin, who are the Blugolds top all-around competitors this season.

“As freshman and sophomores to be the big all-arounders, that’s a lot of pressure on you,” McIntyre said.

At the conference meet, River Falls, who hosted the competition, snuck a second place finish by a little over one point.

The team will have a chance to prove they can beat the Falcons during their final dual meet of the season at McPhee on Friday.

“When we have our team meeting Monday, we’ll talk about raising the bar,” McIntyre said.

Last week the Blugolds had a 170-point performance beating WIAC rival UW-Stout.

McIntyre said the confidence from that meet carried over into conference – she hopes that trend will continue.