January 22, 2009 at 9:00 a.m.
Wildcats back on track with two wins
Wildcats back on track with two wins
Finally returning for their holiday break, the Wildcats gymnastics team earned two tough North Suburban Conference wins as a late Christmas present.
The 'Cats had to travel to St. Louis Park to take on the Orioles, and through the first event, it looked like it might be a tough ride back. Chisago Lakes started on the uneven bars, while the Orioles started on the vault.
Sam Thomsen and Courtney Schlegel led the way in the bars for the Wildcats. Thomsen scored an 8.150 and Schlegel came in with a 7.875. The girls' running total for the bars was 30.70, while SLP had scored 32.950 on the vault behind a trio of girls that broke the eight-point barrier.
The roles were reversed, however, in the second event as the 'Cats were on the vault, and the Orioles were swinging from the uneven's. Chisago Lakes did SLP one better by having four girls break the eight-point mark on vault. Alicia Sokol and Aly Hagglund tied for a team-best 8.350 on the vault. The score was Hagglund's personal best. The Thomsen sisters, Sam and Alex, came in both over eight points as Sam earned an 8.10 and Alex earned an 8.0. Cassie Schlegel rounded out the great event with a 7.85.
St. Louis Park stumbled and fumbled their way around on the uneven bars and only earned 26.175 points.
The swing in momentum not only gave Chisago Lakes the leas at 63.50-59.125, it gave them the momentum going into the last two events of the night.
The Wildcats had a nice showing in floor exercises while the Orioles tripped up on the balance beam, virtually ensuring a win for the 'Cats. Alex Thomsen earned top honors in the floor exercise for the Wildcats with an 8.175. Sam Thomsen checked in right behind her with an 8.050. Sokol kept the Wildcats score high with a 7.750. At 94.675-87.925, it would take a minor miracle for SLP to recover and win the meet.
In the last event, Chisago Lakes had a great showing on the beam, and they only gave up one point to the overmatched Orioles.
The Thomsen sisters and Hagglund all scored over seven on the beam, with Alex flirting with eight at 7.725. As a team, they scored 29.225 on beam while the Orioles only mustered a 30.10 on the floor exercises.
Sam Thomsen won the all-around with a 31.825. Sokol finished in third place in the overall with a 28.60 and Cassie Schlegel came in fourth right behind her with a 28.525.
"The girls did a nice job against the Orioles. It's always nice to pick up a conference win," Head Coach Brett Kjos expressed. "We were strong on vault and bars, had some nice routines on the beam and did very well on the floor."
Chisago Lakes 126.850, Columbia Heights 98.100
Nearly from the get go, the Wildcats had this conference win in the bag. With a phenomenal showing on vault in their first event, and a dismal uneven bar performance by Heights, the Wildcats opened up a nearly insurmountable 12-point lead after one event.
All five girls scored an eight or above on the vault exercise. Hagglund was tops, with an 8.3, and Sokol came in second with an 8.275. Right behind them were Cassie Schlegel with an 8.250 and Alex Thomsen with an 8.2. Sam Thomsen rounded out the fabulous event with an 8.0.
They only stretched their lead out in the second event, scoring a 31.45 on the uneven bars while Heights only earned a 28.70 on vault.
Sam Thomsen earned the top spot for the Wildcats with an 8.20, and Hagglund narrowly missed winning her second event of the day with an 8.15. Sokol came in with a 7.75 to stretch the lead further.
The 'Cats kept pouring it on in the last two events. Alex Thomsen was the top scorer on beam for the Wildcats, earning an 8.30. Her younger sister Sam came close to the eight-point mark with a 7.825.
On the floor exercise, both Thomsen sister excelled again. Alex won the event with an 8.60 and Sam earned an 8.30. Sokol again flirted with eight, but she just couldn't get the one more high mark she needed, instead finishing with a 7.95.
The all-around race was a tight one between the Thomsen siblings. The point difference in the uneven bars proved to be the difference between the two as Sam won the event with a 32.325, and Alex came in just behind with a 32.250. Sokol finished in third place with a 30.525.
"We had our biggest score of the year, and our hard work is starting to pay off," Kjos said. "We did an outstanding job on vault, and had our highest score of the season on uneven bars. On beam, we only counted four falls instead of our usual seven to eight. It was great!"
Throughout the meet, the girls swept the top five spots in the vault, the bars and the floor. It was the girls best meet of the season against a struggling Columbia Heights squad.
"The girls are working very hard on improving their routines. Right now, they are scoring about as high as they can with their current routines," Kjos explained. "We are slowly adding new skills to routines, which will increase their difficulty level and, hopefully, their scores. We have many tough upcoming meets, though, but it should get us ready for the conference and section meets."
Comments:
Commenting has been disabled for this item.