The Becker Bulldog girls gymnastics team competed at the state high school tournament at the University of Minnesota Sports Pavillion Friday morning. 

The Bulldogs finished third with a score of144.325. Melrose Area took second (147.025) and Detroit Lakes took first (150.225).

Becker's  rotation was first on bars, second on beam, third on floor and last on vault.

Bars Exercise

Miranda O'Brien got the team off to a flying start as she excelled on bars and scored 8.325. Kylee Pudas stuck a solid 8.145 while Hannah Schmidt scored a 8.3. Schmidt, who remarkably just a few weeks ago sprained her ankle, is hoping to ride off into the sunset with her gutsiest performance of her career this weekend.

Marlee Louden looked polished and when she landed her bars runtime, she captured an 8.450 score for her efforts. Haley Olson brought the team and the Becker fans to their feet when she had a clean routine and scored an 8.825.

 

Louden was firs to jump on the 4" wide beam and her routine was delightful as she dismounted to a perfect landing and tallied  a 9.1. She was followed by Schmidt, who looked strong until she teetered and fell just before beginning her dismount. She still garnered a solid 8.550.

 

Lindsay Olson didn't let any jitters get to her as she was strong on the beam and scored an 8.6 with a great dismount and routine.  Katie Wilke was next, and she looked seasoned beyond her years as she sparkled with a spectacular 9.350 score to lead all Bulldog gymnasts on the apparatus. Anchoring the team was Miranda O'Brien and she followed Olson's great show with one of her own. She looked nearly flawless and when she landed her extremely difficult dismount, she ran into the welcoming arms of her teammates and coaches who were all smiles. O'Brien's routine merited a 9.225.

 

As the competition wore on, the gymnasts for Becker started heating up. On floor, Kassidy Severson showed her great style and smile as she tallied a 9.050 for her routine. Next up was Pudas, who was dynamite and score a 9.15 as well. Third up was O'Brien, still beaming from her beam routine and it carried over graciously to the floor as she tallied a 9.3.

 

Not to be out done, Schmidt looked flawless as she got incredible scores and averaged a 9.325. Anchoring the girls on floor was Haley Hubbard, who has been Incredibly consistent on floor exercise and her routine brought the house down with a four score average of 9.4.

 

The momentum continued into the final exercise -- vault.

 

Pudas got the team off to a great start as she got an 8.9 on her first vault and an 8.95 on vault number two. Haley Olson got scores of 9.2 and 9.250 on her vaults. She was followed by O'Brien who tallied a 9.350 and a9.275 on her two attempts.

 

Wilke was superb as she nailed a 9.375 and a 9.3 on her two vaults. The exercise ended withSchmidt giving it her all, and it appeared she. Strained her ankle so she competed just once..she garnered a 9.0 for her valiant attempt.

 

Saturday,s individual results will appear in next week's Citizen-Tribune.