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As if the pressure wasn’t already at an all-time high for North Branch freshman Allyssa Houle last Saturday at the state gymnastics meet. Not only was she competing in her first state tourney- in the all-around no less, it was also Houle’s 15th birthday. One thing is for certain, it was a birthday to remember.

Houle started off on the floor which was her best event at sections. It turned out to be her best event at state as well as Houle posted an average score of 8.9. However, the competition was fierce. To put things into perspective, while Houle’s performance fell just short of 9.0, 20 of the 32 gymnasts competing in the all-around in class A scored a 9.0 or better.

Up next for Houle was the vault where the freshman improved on her section score, scoring an 8.450 (she scored an 8.4 at sections).

However, a fall off the bars stopped her momentum a little bit. As it should be, Houle went for it all on the bars and fell just short. She scored an average of 7.675.

“She’s been practicing her giants (a specific routine) and she almost threw them in at sections but she decided not to. In warm-ups, she hit them right away and we decided to try it,” remembered Holly Saunders, North Branch head gymnastics coach. “You might as well throw it in there with nothing to lose, it just didn’t happen. That’s the thing with gymnastics, you have to hit every performance and you can’t make any mistakes. But I was very proud with how she did. She got great scores on the floor, beam, and vault. When looking at her all-around score, she was right around her average. I just think she did great.”

Finally, Houle wrapped up her day with another strong performance, this time on the beam where she scored an 8.650. It was another event where Houle topped her section score (she scored an 8.4 on the beam at the section meet).

When all was said and done, Houle finished with an all-around score of 33.6750, placing her 29th out of 32 gymnasts. Not bad for her first time to the big show.

“I just think she did great. It’s an overwhelming experience. I know it helped her a lot that Britni (Harris) made it too, they are good friends,” said Saunders. “I didn’t really have any expectations. I went into the meet thinking that it’s good to get that experience for down the road. The competition was unbelievable. It was good for her to see that and to get that first trip under her belt because she’ll be back.”

With three seasons left, that’s almost guaranteed.

Harris finishes 22nd on vault

Britni Harris picked a good time to hit it.

“It” was the vault, and last Saturday at the state gymnastics meet, Harris vaulted her way to her best score ever, finishing with an average score of 9.1, putting her 22nd overall out of 32 participants.

“I thought she would fall right in the middle and that’s where she did,” mentioned Brett Kjos, Chisago Lakes head girls gymnastics co-head coach. “She went out there and did just awesome. That was the best score she’s ever gotten. She didn’t seem nervous, she just went out there and did her job.”

Harris scored an average of 9.1 on both of her vaults. On her first attempt, one of the judges even scored her performance a 9.25. None of her scores were below an 8.85. Harris qualified for state in the vault by scoring an 8.8 at sections. She blew that score away at state.

“She’s going to build on it,” said Kjos. “She has such a great work ethic, I think she’ll do what’s necessary to get back there. I think she expects herself to be there.”

Like Houle, Harris is just a freshman, so don’t be surprised if this is just the beginning.

Class A state gymnastics meet

Individual results (CL & NB only)

Allyssa Houle:

All-around- 33.6750 (29th)

Vault- 8.450

Beam- 8.650

Bars- 7.675 (32nd)

Floor- 8.900 (21st)

Britni Harris:

Vault- 9.100 (22nd)

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Notes:

-After the state meet, Houle was named All-State Honorable Mention on the bars, floor, beam, and in the all-around.

-The North Branch gymnastics team has been awarded the section team academic award.

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