The Big Lake Hornet girls gymnastics team competed in the Brainerd Invitational Dec. 18 and both the varsity and JV teams took home first place titles.

The invite featured eight area teams and the Hornets prevailed and remained undefeated. 

“I’m so proud of these girls for adapting and overcoming all the obstacles and challenges we’ve faced so far this season,” said Head Coach Lanny Goldsmith. “We don’t make excuses, we keep moving forward. There are big things ahead for these girls.”

Varsity

The Hornets varsity finished with a 143.950 score while Melrose captured second with 142.450. They were followed by Owatonna (141.950), Detroit Lakes (140.700), Brainerd (139.400), Lakeville South (137.850) and Moorhead (112.350).

On vault, Big Lake’s Britney Krumrei took home first place with a score of 9.600. Lola Visci tied for fifth with a score of 9.300 and Autumn Grunewald tied for sixth with a score of 9.250.

On bars, Visci took second with a score of 9.550 while Grunewald tied for sixth with a score of 8.950.

On beam, Kennadie Ell took third with a 9.250 score. Krumrei took sixth with a 9.100 score.

On floor, Krumrei tied for fourth with a 9.350 score. She was followed by Grunewald in sixth (9.250) and Amber Grundewald in eighth with a 9.100 score.

In the all-around, Big Lake’s Grunewald took sixth with a combined score of 35.950. Visci made the top 10 with a ninth place finish, scoring 35.450.

Junior Varsity

The Hornet JV team took first place with a team score of 97.650. They were followed in second by Melrose (96.650), third for Lakeville South (92.000), fourth for Brainerd (87.400), fifth for Lakeville North (84.900), sixth for Detroit Lakes (84.050), seventh for Owatonna (79.500) and eighth for Moorhead (54.550).

On vault, Big Lake’s Kennadie Ell took second place with an 8.500 score. She was followed by teammate Kaelyn Dietz in third (8.400) and Taylor Schreifels in a tie for ninth (7.900).

On bars, Ell took third (8.100), Allie Lu tied for seventh (7.750) and Dietz took eighth (7.700).

On beam, Lu beat all others with a score of 8.800. She was followed by  Grace McCrone in a tie for third (8.350) and Ava Eastman in a tie for seventh (7.900).

On floor, McCrone tied for first with an 8.850 score while Ava Heinen captured fifth with an 8.400 score.

In the all-around, McCrone took fourth with a 17.200 score. Ell took seventh (16.600), Lu took eighth (16.550) and Dietz took 11th (16.100).