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WELCOME - "What's the angle supposed to be," Fairmont senior Katie Krumholz asked in reference to a maneuver on the balance beam.

"Forty-five degrees," said Martin County West junior Matraca Steen, who demonstrated the skill on the 4 inch-wide apparatus to her new teammate.

"Got it. Thanks," said Krumholz.

The 2008 South Central Conference beam champion working together with the 2009 Section 3A all-around champion is just one example of how truly united the Martin County Area Magic gymnasts have become in less than two weeks of practice.

Ironic, especially considering the fact that the team - a combination of the Martin County West Maverick and Fairmont Cardinal programs - did not officially exist until receiving the final approvals from both school districts on Nov. 12.

"The name and mascot were results of a team and parents meeting, while our official color of purple is what you get when you mix the two schools' main colors of red and blue," said Magic mentor LeeAnn Steen. "We tried to get everyone involved in the process.

"Now we have to wait for the name to be recognized by the high school league."

So, how were the two gymnastics programs able to merge so quickly?

"The athletic directors (Randy Soma and David Traetow) worked very hard to consolidate our schedules into one, and we appreciate that," said Steen. "The only unfortunate part is that we don't open at home (in Welcome) until after Christmas, but that's OK.

"We do, however, have four potential Saturday meets including our own invitational, so that will be nice."

Steen, along with assistant coaches Kelly Wolter and Brian Steen, spotter Patrick Kloeckner and manager Rachel Amborn, will guide the newly-united 23-gymnast lineup into season-opening action on Thursday night against sectional rival Jackson County Central in Jackson.

"We're just making sure that we have our routines put together for our opener," said Steen. "We know that Jackson (County Central) is a quality program with a good facility, so we're looking forward to performing to the best of our abilities that night."

Matraca Steen and Krumholz will likely contribute points to the Magic's first-ever competition as a unified roster after assembling stellar prep careers to this juncture.

Matraca Steen played a key role in helping guide Martin County West to its fifth consecutive Class A state team appearance last season. In fact, Steen captured 13th place in the 2009 Class A individual state meet's all-around competition - paced by an incredible seventh-place showing on the floor exercise.

Krumholz, who has played an integral role in resurrecting Fairmont's program since her varsity debut as a seventh-grader, represents one of the area's top beam workers and will add scoring punch for Martin County Area.

Unfortunately for their opponents, the Magic roster also contains three other individual state qualifiers - senior Linnea Erickson, junior Paige Breneman and eighth-grader Rebecca Steen, along with three other gymnasts who were members of the Mavericks' sixth-place 2009 state team roster in senior Andrea Johnson, junior Taylor Olson and sophomore Carissa Morris.

"This team has a lot of varsity experience and that makes things a lot easier in the practice gym," said Steen. "It's been great watching the older gymnasts helping with routines and spotting.

"Fairmont brings a strong group into the gym, while Martin County West returns six letterwinners from a year ago."

Erickson, who topped the Cardinals' scoring charts in each of the four seasons that she was healthy, brings back-to-back individual state appearances to the equipment, including qualifying for the 2009 meet on both the vault and uneven parallel bars.

Meanwhile, Breneman - the 2009 Section 3A vault champion - has proven to be a cornerstone behind the Mavericks' incredible string of state team appearances and will bring her high-scoring ways to the gym again this winter.

Rebecca Steen returns after netting 16th on the balance beam at last year's state individual meet, while Johnson and Olson add scoring punch after competing on the floor and vault, and unevens, respectively, in the team competition.

Erica Thate, Alyssa Behrends and Shannon Bulfer also bring scoring potential to the roster after contributing to the Cardinals' resurgence over the last couple of seasons.

"One of our goals is to continue to improve as the season progresses. We'd certainly like to come back and win the section. If we continue to stick together as a team, I think we have a good chance to do that," said LeeAnn Steen. "It's a nice mix of girls and they seem to be having a good time practicing together. Now we need to train hard, have no regrets and step up to the plate.

"Better, together."