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Scores continue to climb for Viking gymnastsBy Danielle Strenke The Viking gymnasts may not be claiming the top spot in every event, but more importantly, the athletes are working hard to improve their individual scores at each meet. Hard work paid off earlier this week, with a 119.8-116.9 win over Rush City. Their last event of 2001 was the Chisago Lakes Invitational, where the team placed fifth of eight teams, indicative of several gymnasts not available to compete due to the holidays. North Branch finished with a 114.6, with only three points separating them from the third place team. Individually, Andrea Miller placed in the top ten in two eventsńfourth on vault (8.5) and ninth on bars (7.7). Her scores put her in tenth place in the all-around competition, with a 31.3 total. Whitney Lloyd also made the top ten on vault, tying for tenth with an 8.05. ěHaving the meet over break was tough because we were down a few players,î head coach Cheryl Becker said. In the practices following that meet, Becker said the team focused on adding new elements and difficulty to their routines. The hard work paid off, as the team edged out Rush City Monday. The final outcome of the meet, however, was not known until Tuesday. ěI thought we had lost, until I realized an error in adding some of the scores,î Becker said. The teamís total on floor exercise was added incorrectly, giving them the loss. To further confuse the issue, the Vikes were still one-tenth of a point behind the Tigers after the correction. But Rush City was penalized three points for competing out of order on the beam, giving North Branch the win. Miller picked up two first place finishes in the meetń vault with an 8.4, and bars with an 8.2. She was also third on beam with an 8.15. Lloyd took third on vault (8.1), and floor (7.5), and fourth on bars (7.4) and beam (7.6). Lindsey Larson was third on vault with an 8.1. Nick Chouinard was fifth on floor (7.3) and bars (7.0). In all around competition, Lloyd captured third, followed by Kristina Gendreau in fourth, and Melanie Gray in fifth. The Viking J.V. squad fell to the Tigers in the meet, 111.8-95.3. Top scores included Chouinard, first on vault with a 7.6, Karli Anderson, third on beam with a 7.2 and on bars with a 7.0, and Larson, fourth on bars with a 6.6. Anderson was second in the all-around, followed by Amanda Matzke in third, and Aileen Shanley in fourth and Krystal Blessener in fifth. Becker said the team continues to work hard, as they hit the halfway point of the season this week. ěThe girls work every meet to try and beat their personal best scores,î she said. They take on Chisago Lakes next Tuesday on the road, in what will be a tough conference matchup. ©ECM Post Review |