When they built the gymnastics facility at Rudder High School, district officials probably figured this would come.

The Ranger boys will go to the state gymnastics meet in Arlington this week with a chance to win the first state championship in the school's three-year history and the seventh title in the sport for the Bryan district.

A&M Consolidated's girls and the Rudder girls will join Rudder's boys at the state meet, which will be held Thursday through Saturday at Arlington Martin High School.

The boys and girls team titles, along with the all-around champions, will be determined by Thursday's compulsories and Friday's optional routines. The top 10 individuals in each discipline will qualify for Saturday's event finals.

Rudder's squads and the Consol girls qualified for state by finishing among the top three teams at the regional meet last month in Humble. The Consol girls were second at regionals behind Round Rock, with the young Lady Rangers taking third.

Coming from a strong region, Consol was hoping to be among the top three teams at state. The Lady Tigers' prospects will be hurt by the loss of sophomore Maggie Drummond, one of the team's top performers who has been diagnosed with mononucleosis and will miss the state meet.

"Her not being able to compete really does hurt our team chances," Consol coach Julie Foght said. "However, I am a fighter and A&M Consolidated is going to fight and do absolutely the best we can. Some of the kids whose score may not have counted in the team score in the past are going to be expected to step up and put up a good routine."

The Rudder boys won the regional championship over defending state champion Kingwood, making the Rangers a favorite going into the state meet. The Bryan boys won six state titles before the gymnastics program shifted to Rudder last year, with the Rangers finishing fourth at state.

"I really believe we have a good shot at this one," Rudder coach J.T. Fletcher said. "The boys have improved their score in every optional meet this year. They have continued to climb, and they've got that going for them. They are undefeated, and they've beaten some very good teams."

Fletcher expects Kingwood, Rockwall and Saginaw to be among the top contenders for the championship. The Rangers have beaten each team this season.

"I hope the boys haven't let up, that they aren't overconfident going in," Fletcher said. "We've talked in team meetings that we still have to go in there and do our job. It really just comes down to who has the fewest misses."

Rudder is led by senior Enoch Rodriguez, who won the 2009 all-around state title with Bryan and has won individual state championships on the pommel horse and high bar. Senior Michael Gonzalez also was a member of the 2009 championship team and took third on the parallel bars last season.

The Rangers' roster includes seniors Tyler Houdek, Marc Herrera, Brendan Leo, Roberto Ochoa and Eric Hmielewski, sophomores Shay Leo, Kenneth Newbold and Cody White, plus freshman Taylor Fletcher.

Consol's girls are led by junior Alison Garlick, who finished third in the all-around competition at the regional meet.

"Allison is fairly strong in all the events," Foght said. "Her best event is the balance beam. If she can hit her routines, she should make it into the finals. I think she has a really good chance."

Athletes that Foght expects to step up in Drummond's absence include Rebecca Gamache, Megan Schill, Maddie Street, Catherine Chenault and Taylor Chenault.

Based on regional qualifying scores, the Consol girls ranked 10th among 12 state entries, with the Rudder girls ranked 11th. Lady Rangers coach Cali Currie believes her young team can surpass expectations at the state meet and is aiming to make the top six.

Rudder's girls are led by senior Meredith Fletcher, the only senior on the team, and her sister Madelyn Fletcher, a junior. Meredith and Madelyn are both all-around contenders. Madelyn finished second in the all-around at regionals, winning on the balance beam and tying for first on the floor exercise. Meredith was unable to finish the regional meet after suffering a severe ankle sprain that cost her a week of training, but she is expected to compete at state.

"Meredith and Madelyn have a very good shot at making it into finals at state," Currie said. "Madelyn has been training hard and seems to be focused and ready to have a great meet. Meredith as a senior is wanting to go out with her best performances. She is a very tough competitor and is not going to let her injury keep her from giving everything she can at the meet."

Rudder's lineup includes junior Kristal Alvarado, sophomores Emily Desormeaux, Hannah Bernal, Tory Spradlin and Analicia Lopes, plus freshmen Madisen Walker, Gabby Hernandez and Natalie Celano.