It was a season high score for the Becker Bulldog gymnastics team last Thursday as they tamed the Chisago Lakes Wildcats, 139.025 to 126.0. It was a great night for the Bulldogs, who earlier in the week learned they had qualified for the State Class A True Team meet.

“The gymnasts came in on a high from finding out earlier in the week that they qualified for the True Team State meet,” Coach Kayla Kalinowski said. “The 10 teams in Class A with the highest average team score are invited to compete in this meet, and it is an honor to be invited . . .  we can’t wait to see where we rank against some of the best teams in the state this weekend.”

The meet will take place Saturday (today) in Melrose.

In the win over the Wildcats, Kalinowski said the Bulldogs’ difficult practice schedule has been paying dividends, while the team has also been competing at less than full strength due to injury and illness.  Once the Bulldogs are able to field a complete team, the scores should continue to rise as the season progresses. 

 “We had been working on consistency and solid, hit routines in practice this week and it was amazing to see the hard work the girls had been putting in pay off,” Kalinowski said. “This was by far one of the most put together meets of the season and the girls really came together as a team to hit their season high.”

Riley Norberg again put on a clinic at the meet, winning the All-around, Vault, Beam and Floor events. Emma Hennessey returned from injury and helped the Bulldogs complete the sweep by winning the Bars.

“We swept the top three spots in each individual event on our way to our season high team score of 139.025,” Kalinowski added.

The top three vault scores were Norberg (9.35), Sarah Woelfel (9.0), and Chloe Spear (8.85), while the top three bars scores were Hennessey (8.35), Sarah Woelfel (8.225), and Norberg (8.075).  

On the beam, Norberg posted a 9.25, followed by Lauren Woelfel (8.95) and Sarah Woelfel (8.65).  The top three floor scores were Norberg (9.1), Sarah Woelfel (9.05) and Spear (8.95).  

In the all around, Norberg scored a 35.775 to take the top spot, followed by Sarah Woelfel, who scored a season high 34.925 to finish in second place.  

Becker’s JV team also won their meet with a score of 124.0. Hailey Duncombe led the way in the all-around with a 31.45, while Sofia Bonsante won the vault (8.7) and bars (7.6).  

“With a few JV gymnasts being pulled up to varsity to fill in for injured and sick gymnasts, we are excited for the improvements they have been making and look for their scores to continue to climb as well,” Kalinowski said.

Check back in next week’s Patriot for complete details on the Class A True Team Meet.