The Britton-Hecla gymnastics team was finally able to swing into action after a couple of delays and picked up a pair of third place finishes in two meets in the past week.
Coach Angela Grupe’s squad hosted an invitational last week Tuesday and competed at the Milbank Invitational on Saturday. The next action for the local gymnast will be a triangular with Sisseton and Aberdeen Central in Aberdeen on Tuesday.
It was nice to get our first meet of the season in after having a weather cancellation and scheduling conflict,” said Grupe. “The team scored well for the first meet after a preseason of struggling with small injuries. I hope to see them now start to practice more competitively and go after those next couple points. There were some first meet jitters so I anticipate us to become more competitive as the season rolls on.”
Missing from the lineup was senior Abby Lee. She is sidelined indefinitely with a back injury suffered during the volleyball season.
“We miss having Abby in our lineup to provide that extra punch to push post a few more teams,” noted Grupe.
Kennady Van Lith placed in all four events to lead the Lady Braves and finished third in all-around. She was fifth in vault, sixth on beam, seventh on bars, and eighth in floor exercise. Jaelee Grupe was second in floor, seventh on vault, and eighth on bars, while Taryn Kraft finished fourth on beam.
“Kennady had a solid night with three state-qualifying scores (vault, beam, floor) and placing third all-around,” said Grupe. “She is a competitor and it was fun to finally see her back in the all-around lineup after sitting out part of last season with a foot injury and never fully returning to all four events. Jaelee Grupe has also been sidelined for several weeks resting a back injury so it’s good to have her back at practice. We did have a few qualifying scores right off the bat, so that was a bonus for night one.”
Other gymnasts with state-qualifying scores were Kraft on beam and Grupe in floor exercise.
At Milbank Kennady Van Lith again paced the Lady Braves, placing fourth on bars and beam, sixth in vault, and fourth all-around. Grupe picked up a sixth place finish in floor exercise.
The junior varsity also competed at Milbank and placed second. Ady Schmieg was first all-around, won the floor exercise, was second on beam and bars, and fourth in vault. Marley Sundin was also an event champ, taking the vault title, Grace Folkman was fifth on beam, and Alexys Olson was fifth all-around.
“I’m excited to get back to the gym and keep working,” concluded Grupe. “I know we have the points in training right now to push past Sisseton over the next few weeks. It should be a fun January.”
FOR FULL STATS, SEE THIS WEEK'S JOURNAL
