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Last Saturday, the Chisago Lakes gymnastics team celebrated the Holiday season by hosting the Chisago Lakes Invite, comprised of seven teams, including North Branch. The Wildcats finished second to Mahtomedi, the Vikings placed sixth.

The Wildcats vaulted out of the gates early. After an opening round bye, the ‘Cats dominated the vault, picking up a team score of 34.65, the best score of the meet. Individually, Dani Medin led the way with a 8.9 followed by a 8.5 by Erica Greene.

After another bye, Chisago Lakes took to the bars. By that time, it was becoming more and more obvious that the meet was going to come down to Chisago Lakes and Mahtomedi. While the ‘Cats were on the bars, to their right, the Zephyrs performed on the floor. Even though it was early, that performance proved to be the difference.

“Mahtomedi basically killed us on the floor,” commented Ed Wakefield, Chisago Lakes gymnastics head coach. “Still, even with that, they (Mahtomedi) only beat us by one point 2-5. It was close.”

After posting a team score of 31.975 on the bars (the second highest next to Mahtomedi), Chisago Lakes knew their championship hopes were hanging in the balance, on the balance beam.

“The beam is always what makes or breaks a meet,” said Wakefield.

Things looked bleak at first. Chisago Lakes started their routine with six falls (five counted), putting them in a major hole. However, Britni Harris and Breanna Albert each picked up shovels and dug the ‘Cats out, both executing near flawless routines, both scoring above an 8.4. Still, the comeback fell just short.

Paced by their performance on floor and bars, the Wildcats had to hit a home run on their floor routine to pull off the win. Instead, they hit a triple off the wall, falling just short, 131.525-130.25.

“We had our highest score of the season so I thought we did pretty well,” remarked Wakefield. “We still have a lot of things we need to work on, we’re not where we can be. We’ve got a few new tricks we’re working on so we just need to get into the gym and polish them up.”

Individually, the Wildcats were led by three gymnasts who placed in the top 10 in the all-around competition. Breanna Albert led the way, placing third overall, followed by Britni Harris (sixth) and Jess Eastman (10).

“It was nice to have Breanna back,” replied Wakefield. “Britni is coming around big time. Jess Eastman felt really sick, she had a cold and could barely breathe and she still had a decent meet considering the way she felt.”

From one tourney to the next. Up next for the Wildcats, the Big Lake Invitational on Saturday before returning home to face St. Michael-Albertville.

Chisago Lakes Invite

Team Results:

1. Mahtomedi 131.525

2. Chisago Lakes 130.25

3. Hudson 126.75

4. Richfield 114.9

5. Rush City/Pine City 112.75

6. North Branch 101.55

7. Quad Cities 92.25

Individual Scores

Top 10 (CL and NB only)-

Vault-

3. Dani Medin 8.9

6. Britni Harris 8.65

7. Jess Eastman 8.6

9. Erica Greene 8.5

10. Breanna Albert 8.3

Bars-

3. Britni Harris 8.35

6. Breanna Albert 8.025

7. Jess Eastman 7.9

8. Allyssa Houle (NB) 7.85

10. Erica Greene 7.7

Beam-

2. Breanna Albert 8.625

4. Britni Harris 8.45

Floor-

5. Dani Medin 8.4

7. Breanna Albert 8.25

All-Around-

3. Breanna Albert 33.2

6. Britni Harris 33.1

10. Jess Eastman 31.15

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