The Britton-Hecla gymnastics squad placed second in its annual Christmas meet last week Tuesday and competed in a meet at Milbank on Saturday.
Coach Angela Grupe’s charges have nine days off for Christmas before hosting a triangular with Sisseton and Aberdeen Central JV on Monday.
Deuel won the team title in the B-H meet with 134.00 points, while Britton-Hecla was second at 129.60, followed by Milbank 128.95, Sisseton 1236.900, and Aberdeen JV 125.25. Results from Milbank were not available and will be published next week.
“The Lady Braves had another strong showing for early in the season,” said Grupe, regarding her squad’s performance in its Christmas meet. “I knew the Northeast Conference would be tough competition, and it is proving it will be a tight year. Deuel had a very good meet, but I do think we have the points to close the gap as we get everyone healthy and continue to improve.”
B-H was missing two of its varsity performers. Taryn Kraft was out due to illness and Kennady Van Lith is still on the sidelines with a foot injury.
Grupe feels her team has plenty of room for improvement.
“I believe as a three-month program we always have more up potential during the season than teams that compete all year,” Grupe noted. “We know the mark we need to get to this year to see some success come postseason, and we’ll see what we can get done in the next six weeks to make that happen.”
The Lady Braves have already qualified one gymnast for the state meet, which requires meeting a state standard in three meets. Ava Teveldal has accomplished that feat on balance beam in the first three meets, while McKenna Heer, Abby Lee, Kraft, and Jaelee Grupe have also hit some qualifying marks and will be able to advance when getting the three required scores.
B-H Christmas Meet
TEAM SCORES: Deuel 134.000, Britton-Hecla 129.600, Milbank 128.950, Sisseton 126.900, Aberdeen JV 125.250
VAULT: 3. Abby Lee 8.80; Jaelee Grupe 8.20, Brynlee Schmieg 8.20, McKenna Heer 8.15, Ava Teveldal 8.15, Marley Sundin 7.85
BARS: 6. Lee 7.75 8. Grupe 7.60; Heer 6.80, Schmieg 5.65, Teveldal 4.60
BEAM: 4. Grupe 8.60 7. Teveldal 8.45 8. Lee 8.40; Heer 7.80, Schmieg 7.45, Sundin 6.90
FLOOR: 6. (tie) Heer, Lee 8.90; Teveldal 8.75, Grupe 8.65, Schmieg 8.20, Sundin 7.60
ALL-AROUND: 3. Lee 33.85 6. Grupe 33.05 8. Heer 31.65; Teveldal 29.95, Schmieg 29.50
