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At the annual Winter Wonderland tournament in River Falls, WI, the Chisago Lakes gymnastics team continued their impressive season with a second place finish in the meet. The finish was their highest team finish ever at the tournament, and it comes just before the 'Cats have a North Suburban Conference showdown with St. Francis.

Chisago Lakes was the first team to perform their varsity floor exercise, and the nerves showed to the other 11 teams in the meet. What is typically their strongest event turned into a tough one after Lindsay Carlson was the only 'Cat to score over an 8.5. "I don't know if we were nervous," Head Coach Brett Kjos noted. "But we didn't perform like we are capable of." Savanna Stendahl and Sam Thomsen were the only other Wildcats to score above an 8 on the floor with Stendahl earning an 8.300 and Thomsen scoring an 8.100.

After the uncharacteristic performance on floor, the 'Cats rebounded for the rest of the meet. "We did really well the rest of the meet," Kjos said. "We left our performance from floor behind us."

Carlson led the way in forgetting that event. She finished in third place on the vault with a score of 9.050. Stendahl and Madeline Carlson went back-to-back at nine and 10 in the vault with Stendahl finishing ninth with an 8.575 and Carlson earning an 8.500.

The girls had an impressive showing when it came to the uneven bars. Lindsay Carlson won first place in the event, scoring an 8.850. Stendahl finished in fifth place with an 8.425, and Madeline Carlson finished in 12th place with an 8.100. The depth of the 'Cats showed in the event, also, as Thomsen and Courtney Schlegel both finished in the top 25 of the meet.

Lindsay Carlson was again the top finisher for the Wildcats in the balance beam. She finished in fifth place in the event with an 8.700. Stendahl wasn't far behind with an 8.474, which was a personal best for her. Thomsen cracked the top 20 with an 18th place finish with a score of 7.825.

In the all-around, Lindsay Carlson finished in second place behind Nicole Thul of Centennial. Carlson scored a 35.500, with a high score at the event of 9.050. Thul won the event with a 35.850 and a high score of 9.400. Stendahl finished fifth in the all-around with a score of 33.775. CL and host River Falls were the only two teams with two girls in the top 10. "Lindsay had a solid meet for us," Kjos said calmly.

Madeline Carlson finished in 12th place in the all-around, earning a score of 31.825.

In the team standings, River Falls finished atop the heap with an impressive 139.350. The 'Cats won't have to see RF again, however, as they are a Wisconsin team. The Wildcats finished with 133.150 points, nearly two points ahead of Centennial, who finished in third place. Hudson (WI) and Stewartville rounded out the top five with scores of 128.475 and 128.175, respectively.

The 'Cats are in the middle of a tough week currently. They took on the well-respected Rush City Tigers on Tuesday at Rush City, and they host the only other undefeated North Suburban Conference team, St. Francis, tonight for a battle that will most likely determine the conference champions.

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