Becker vs. Rockford

 

The lady gymnasts hosted a match against the Rockford Rockets Thursday and beat them by scoring their season-high of 138.775.

 

Becker also scored season-high team totals on vault, bars, floor and total score.

 

“The team approached the competition with a completely different attitude,” said Head Coach Jen Harmoning. “Much more confidence than in the past two meets.”

 

 

The team began on vault and hit four-for-five with Hannah Schmidt taking first place with a personal best 9.275. Second place went to Haley Hubbard with 9.15, third place to Sabrina Tiemens with an 8.925, fourth place to Kassidi Andres with an 8.725, fifth place went to Rockford and Megan Murphy scored 8.475 for sixth place.

 

 

The team didn't have any falls on bars for the first time this year, but there were still plenty of tiny mishaps that kept the performances from being our best,” said Harmoning.  

 

“I was happy to see the girls work hard through the little things and pull it back together without needing to take a fall or have a major mistake because of it.  They showed calmness and tenacity under pressure. It isn't easy to refrain from reacting to the little problems and just continue on as if nothing out of the ordinary has happened.”

 

First place went to Haley Olsen with a personal best score of 8.75. Second place went to Murphy with an 8.325, third place to Lexi Reichle with a 7.8, fourth place to Hubbard with a 7.775 and fifth place to Schmidt with a 7.75.

 

 

“We hit one-for-five on beam tonight,” said the head coach. “Overall the confidence is still lacking on this event.”  

 

Harmoning says the gymnasts want so badly to do well and they try so hard, but their nerves just get the best of them sometimes.   “We're still working on taking that nervous energy and channeling it into strong confident performances,” she said.  “On beam there's just nowhere for the jitters to go but off the beam.  I feel really confident that this beam team will be able to figure it out, but it's definitely a work in progress.”

 

First place went to Murphy with an 8.65, second to Reichle with an 8.6, third ro Schmidt and Sabrina Tiemens with 8.325’s, fifth place to Rockford and ninth place to Montanna Edling for her 7.3.

 

 

The Bulldogs hit three-for-five on floor, but have yet to really break out, despite many promising things.  

 

“We made some adjustments to several of the routines that gave the girls more opportunities for bonus points and also helped them to show routines with better execution,” said Harmoning.  “I'm excited about how great we can be on this event.”

 

First place went to Murphy and Hubbard with 9.25’s, third place went to Schmidt with a 9.0, fourth to Edling with an 8.65, fifth to Rockford and Reichle scored an 8.15 for sixth place.

 

 

First to Murphy with a 34.7, second to Schmidt with a 34.35, third to Madisyn Bartlett of Rockford with a 29.6 and fourth to Rachel Selly of Rockford with a 28.775.

 

 

Last Saturday, the Becker gymnasts competed in the Lakeville North Invitational and finished 13th of 16 teams.

 

The Bulldogs started the meet scoring a season-high on vault, but suffered too many mistakes on the following three events and finished near the bottom of the standings.

 

“Competing at Lakeville can be intimidating,” said Harmoning.  “Some of the equipment is difficult to get used to, the meet is run by an unfamiliar format and almost all of the very best teams in the state — both Class A and AA — were there.”  

 

Harmoning said rather than her team letting that light a spark to rise to the occasion and compete at a higher level, her squad crumbled.

 

“Right now, this team doesn't seem to understand or believe that they belong amongst the best teams,” she said. “They are awesome gymnasts and are talented enough to compete with the top girls.  So now we coaches need to work harder at helping them believe it.”

 

Final Results: 1). Roseville Raiders; 2). Melrose Dutchmen; 3). Austin; 4). Northfield High School; 5). Wayzata; 6). Cambridge-Isanti; 7). Brainerd; 8). Lakeville North; 9). Eden Prairie Eagles; 10). Park-Cottage Grove; 11). Stillwater Ponies;12). Eastview; 13). Becker; 14). Prior Lake; 15). Saint Francis High School; 16). Lakeville South.

 

Next week, the girls compete at Little Falls Thursday.  

 

“Our goal is to continue gaining confidence and cleaning up the execution,” said Harmoning.  “I also hope to see the team compete as hard at an away meet as they did here at home.”