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St. Francis 133.7, Chisago Lakes 127.85
The Wildcats dropped a conference meet to St. Francis last week when they fell 133.7-127.85.

Betsy Howerton and Izzy Hindt finished in third and fourth in the all around, including a second place finish on bars and floor from Howerton.

Chisago Lakes 127.4, Buffalo 126.2
The Wildcats scratched out a victory over Buffalo, winning by just over a point. Emily Aiple and Howerton led the ‘Cats, finishing first and second in the all around. Aiple didn’t have any individual wins throughout the night, but she stayed consistent and stuck to her routines, earning the top spot with a score of 32.5.

Howerton finished in first place on the uneven bars, but a tough vault and beam caused her to fall just behind Aiple and finish in second place with a score of 32.225.

Hindt finished in fourth in the all around with a strong showing. She didn’t finish below fifth place in any of the events.

Eastview Quad
The Wildcats finished third place in the four team quad down in Eastview.

Howerton finished in fifth place in the all around with a score of 33.0. Aiple came in seventh place with a score or 32.45, and she also had two sixth place finishes, one on the uneven bars and the other on the vault.

We are starting to get a grasp on beam and bars which is helping our scores go up and the girls are beginning to believe that they can be competitive with other teams in the conference.  Our goal is to hit a 130 and we haven't peaked yet.  We need to hit all four events simultaneously to surpass that score.” Head Coach Kristin Johnson said.   

“I truly believe that we can do it and it's fun to see the girls starting to believe it as well.”

Johnson is excited to see where the girls’ potential can take them and how well they’ll do when they really start nailing some advanced techniques and avoiding injury.

“We have battled illness and injury the whole season, but we got hit hard during the St. Francis meet. We switched the line up order 20 times in less than 10 hours and the team really "teamworked" its way to (the then) season high score of 127.85.”

The injury bug has even bitten the coach.

Johnson was getting ready to help Aiple on her uneven bar dismount at the Eastview Quad when Aiple’s shin blasted Johnson in the face.
She suffered two black eyes and a very swollen nose, but she recovered to finish coaching the meet and has been there for the girls in practice.

“I look like I was mugged and I can see my own nose,” she said of the injuries. “I’m getting some awesome looks from people though.”           

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