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Last Saturday at the Rum River Conference gymnastics meet, the Chisago Lakes Wildcats were put under the gun before the show even began. Performing in warm-ups, Alex Thomsen injured herself, taking her out of the line-up. That could have been the excuse for the ‘Cats to give up, it could have been an excuse not to be at their best, but it wasn’t. Instead, the Wildcats tightened their chin strap and went to work, finishing fourth overall as a team, scoring one of their best scores of the year in 126.1. So much for backing down.

“That was a major blow (losing Thomsen) to the team because she averages 32 in the all-around competition,” said Brett Kjos, Chisago Lakes co-head coach. “Sasha Schoen took Alex’s spot in the line-up and did a fantastic job. Sasha was one of our alternates. Someone who is very vital to the team but you hopefully never have to use. Sasha has missed a lot herself due to injuries and mono and is working hard to get herself back to gymnastics shape, but when she was called on, she performed.”

As did the entire team. The Wildcats best event of the day came in the vault where they posted a team score of 33.375 which was the third highest score of the meet. Individually, Britni Harris shocked everyone by sticking a 9.0 on the vault- the highest score of her career. It was also the ‘Cats first nine of the season. Overall, Harris finished fifth on the vault. Ana Peltier, Schoen, and Andrea Olson followed, placing 17, 18, and 19 respectively.

Chisago was also solid on the floor. There, Harris led the pack with a score of 8.375. She was followed Schoen and Amanda Bergerson. Bergerson was another one of Kjos’s unsung heroes, scoring points in all four events. Bergerson finished 19th in the all-around competition.

“Amanda had her best meet of the year. She was battling a twisted knee, a sprained ankle, and was in a tremendous amount of pain,” remarked Kjos. “Our second alternate was unable to perform so Amanda battled through the pain and gave it her all. I am very proud of her. Between the tears and the ice packs, she improved her all-around score by nearly a whole point.”

As for the rest of the event, Harris again made headlines in the bars by posting an 8.85 which put her second overall. Harris then finished the meet with a seventh place finish on the beam. The freshman finished eighth in the all-around.

“Britni had a great meet. All of the extra work she is putting into her routines is starting to pay off,” mentioned Kjos. “Her bar score was her highest of the season. It might even be a personal record as well.”

After the meet, Harris was named all-conference in the vault and bars, and all-conference honorable mention in the beam and floor. In addition, Thomsen was named all-conference honorable mention on the bars.

In short, Kjos and the ‘Cats left their final Rum River Conference meet with a smile on their face.

“We had set a goal for the meet to be a 126. When Alex got injured, I didn’t think that we could achieve that goal, but the girls proved me wrong,” smiled Kjos. “They really rallied and gave a truly outstanding performance.”

Kjos hopes to be saying the same thing a week from now. The section meet takes place this Saturday.

Vikings finish fifth overall at

conference meet

Alyssa Houle las learned to embrace the big stage. Last Saturday at the conference gymnastics meet, Houle excelled on the big stage, finishing tied for fifth in the all-around competition, including a third place finish on the bars. As a team, North Branch finished fifth overall with a score of 125.975.

Houle paced the Vikings in all four events. In addition, Kelsey Lloyd was solid, taking 12th in the all-around.

Like the Wildcats, the Vikings will take part in the section gymnastics meet this Saturday.

Rum River Conference Gymnastics Meet:

Team Results-

1. Big Lake 142.000

2. STMA 137.150

3. RC/PC/HF 127.700

4. Chisago Lakes 126.100

5. North Branch 125.975

6. Princeton 120.800

All-Around Results

(CL and NB only)-

5. Allyssa Houle 34.900

8. Britni Harris 34.725

12. Kelsey Lloyd 31.925

14. Sasha Schoen 30.775

15. Andrea Olson 30.425

17. Ana Peltier 29.725

18. Shayna Bauer 29.550

19. Amanda Bergerson 29.350

20. Aileen Shanley 29.200

Chisago Lakes Results:

Vault-

5. Britni Harris 9.000

17. Ana Peltier 8.225

18. Sasha Schoen 8.100

19. Andrea Olson 8.050

24. Amanda Bergerson 7.900

Beam-

7. Britni Harris 8.500

14. Andrea Olsen 7.600

20. Sasha Schoen 6.800

24. Amanda Bergerson 6.600

28. Ana Peltier 6.250

Bars-

2. Britni Harris 8.850

13. Sasha Schoen 7.825

20. Ana Peltier 7.250

26. Andrea Olsen 6.850

27. Amanda Bergerson 6.825

Floor-

13. Britni Harris 8.375

20. Sasha Schoen 8.050

21. Amanda Bergerson 8.025

23. Ana Peltier 8.000

24. Andrea Olson 7.925

North Branch Results:

Vault-

12. Allyssa Houle 8.400

21. Shayna Bauer 8.000

27. Aileen Shanley 7.725

30. Sam Jannings 7.600

Beam-

9. Allyssa Houle 8.275

13. Kelsey Lloyd 7.700

20. Aileen Shanley 6.800

29. Shayna Bauer 6.200

30. Angelis Pietila 5.700

Bars-

3. Allyssa Houle 8.800

17. Kelsey Lloyd 7.600

24. Shayna Bauer 6.975

28. Sam Jannings 6.650

29. Aileen Shanley 6.250

Floor-

5. Allyssa Houle 9.150

11. Aileen Shanley 8.425

13. Shayna Bauer 8.375

15. Kelsey Lloyd 8.225

30. Sam Jannings 6.650

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