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At the Section 7A gymnastics meet on Friday, February 17, there was a battle royal at the top of the all around standings, and after the dust settled, two area gymnasts punched their tickets to the state tourney.

Ella Rhein of Chisago Lakes finished in second place in the all around and was the section champion on the uneven bars and floor exercise and Dakota Esget of North Branch finished just behind her in third place in the all around and nearly claimed the vault individual championship.

The feats of both are even more impressive considering they share a section with the top ranked team in the state, Big Lake.

Rhein’s day was full of personal bests. She had her best ever all around score with a 37.450, which was just .150 points behind champion Britney Krumrei — who finished third in the all around at last year’s state meet —and also had personal bests on the uneven bars and vault and tied a personal best on the floor. “It was awesome to watch,” CL Head Coach Brett Kjos said.

For Esget, she had one of her best meets of the year as well, scoring 36.125 in the all around. Her best events were the vault, in which she scored 9.5 and finished just behind Krumrei’s 9.55 as section champion, and the floor exercise,  scoring a 9.3. Her bar routine was a 9 and her beam featured a few hiccups, but that leaves room for improvement in the state meet.

The state meet for Class A individuals is Saturday, February 25 at 6 p.m.

The Wildcats as a team finished third in the meet and NB came in fifth. For a full rundown of the team results, check out next week’s Chisago County Press.

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