The Becker Bulldog gymnasts competed twice in the last week, once at the True Team State tournament Jan. 23 and once last Friday in Little Falls.

 

 

The gymnasts traveled to Little Falls last Friday and came away with a 29.1 point win.

 

The team hit four-for-five on vault for a total score that was a few tenths shy of their season high.  

 

Katie Wilke placed first, scoring 9.45 with Miranda O'Brien close behind scoring a 9.4.  

 

“These two have been really solid vaulters for our team all season,” said Head Coach Jen Harmoning.

 

Kassidy Severson took third (9.025), Haley Olsen took fourth (8.9) and Haley Hubbard took fifth (8.8).

 

The Bulldogs hit only three-out-of-five routines and the bright spot was Marlee Louden, hitting her routine with her new dismount for the first time.  She scored a personal best 8.925 for first place.  

 

Haley Olsen placed second, scoring an 8.625 despite falling on her dismount.  Wilke and O'Brien took third and fourth, with solid routines scoring an 8.375 and an 8.3.  Kylee Pudas had a few struggles mid-routine and finished with a fall on her dismount, yet she still took fifth (7.525) place ahead of all her opponents.

 

The Bulldog beamers had only one stuck routine from Wilke, who placed first by scoring an 8.95. O'Brien finished second (8.55), Louden third (8.0), Lindsay Olsen fourth (7.9) and Severson sixth (7.5).

 

The girls put in five solid routines on floor to finish the night.

 

Hubbard finished first (9.45),  O'Brien second (9.25), Severson third (9.125), Pudas fourth (9.025) and Lindsay Olsen fifth (8.7).

 

O'Brien won the all-around with a 35.5 score.

 

The team was competing without Hannah Schmidt who is still recovering from a sprained ankle.

 

Coach Harmoning said her team “did not have the showing at True Team that we would have liked to have.”

 

“We knew we were starting with a bit of a disadvantage, not being able to compete with Hannah Schmidt (injured leg), but we have good alternates and had hopes that we'd still do well,” Harmoning said.  

 

Becker started the event on bars and — although they didn't have any falls — Harmoning said there were several mishaps and little things that they could have done better.  

“Still, we were happy overall to finish the event without having to count any falls in our total,” she said.

 

Beam was the team’s second event on the day and unfortunately, the team had to count six falls by the end of the rotation.  

 

“We had no one who stuck her routine,” said the head coach.  “This was highly disappointing because we have been working so hard to be more consistent on beam in competition.  It's just something we will continue to work on.”

 

In Becker’s third event, the girls went to the floor and turned things around.  All five gymnasts hit really great routines and competed with high energy.

 

That gave the team some confidence heading into their final exercise of the day.

 

“We ended our day on vault and turned in five solid vaults,” said Harmoning.  “So the second half of the meet we did great and were really happy to end on a high note.”

True Team Results (awarded according to five-score event totals — meaning every gymnast's score counts): 1).  Detroit Lakes, 186.0; 2).  Melrose, 181.125; 3).  Willmar, 177.0; 4). Sartell, 176.1; 5).  Perham, 174.775; 6).  Watertown, 173.25; 7).  Becker, 173.05; 8).  Austin, 171.275; 9).  Jackson County, 168.275; 10).  Worthington, 167.5.

 

“The final placement was a little bit disappointing,” said Harmoning.  “We know we are capable of better.  We have already beaten Melrose, Willmar, and Sartell this year, so placing down in seventh was not want we wanted.” 

 

Today (Saturday), the girls compete in their final conference meet before sections in Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted. The teams competing are HLWW,  Little Falls, Maple Lake, Paynesville Area and Rush City.

 

The Section 7A championship meet will take place Sat., Feb. 13, in Sauk Rapids at noon.  Becker will be battling with several other great teams to try to win the meet and earn a second straight trip to the state tournament.  

 

Three schools from Section 7A are in the final season Top-10 rankings including Becker in fifth, Big Lake in ninth and Sartell in 10th.  Two other schools are also near the top in the rankings and they include North Branch (13th) and Monticello (19th).  

 

“We have the toughest section meet of all other sections with so many high caliber teams,” said Harmoning.  “It will be an exciting tournament.”