Just seven-tenths of a point separated the three teams at the Deuel Invitational gymnastics meet on Friday and that result points to an upcoming dogfight for top honors at the Northeast Conference Meet set for next week Thursday.
Deuel won its own meet with a 134.100 total, followed closely by Britton-Hecla at 133.550 and Sisseton with a 133.400 score.
The Lady Braves also competed at Estelline-Hendricks on Monday in a meet not on the original schedule. The hosts took top honors with a 142.950 effort, followed by Britton-Hecla at 130.850, Sioux Falls Lincoln JV 103.850, and Sioux Falls Washington 74.800.
“The Barn in Hendricks, MN, is a fun environment with games, loud music, an entertaining announcer, and it takes place on a farm,” noted B-H coach Angela Grupe. “It was a fun experience for the girls and the awards were farm animals.”
On Saturday the local gymnasts are back at Deuel in the final regular season meet before the NEC and Region 1 meets (held at the same time) in Madison on Feb. 6. The state meet is in Watertown on Feb. 14-15.
“It’s going to be a real battle in the conference meet,” predicted Grupe. “Deuel has been leading all year but I think we can work to close that gap. Milbank and us have gone back and forth all year and Sisseton has been really pushing us, coming up only .15 behind us at this meet.”
Grupe knows her team will also have to bring its ‘A’ game to the regional.
“We will have a battle at the region,” said Grupe. “There is such a high level of teams this year that it will be a tough fight to get one of the state spots.”
Grupe felt her team got itself back on track this week after a bit of a slip a week ago.
“Other than a couple bumps, we had a much more solid competition at Deuel than last week in Madison. We have some execution to clean up for sure and will need to be at our best come Region/NEC. We continue to get a few qualifying scores here and there and are looking for that third qualifying score per event to ensure an individual trip to state. Jaelee Grupe is now state-qualified on the beam and floor exercise, and Kennady Van Lith is working into a stronger return every day after coming back from an injury.”
Deuel Invitational
TEAM POINTS: Deuel 134.100, Britton-Hecla 133.550, Sisseton 133.400
VAULT: 5. Abby Lee 8.85; Kennady Van Lith 8.80, McKenna Heer 8.70, Jaelee Grupe 8.70, Ava Teveldal 8.60, Brynlee Schmieg 8.20
BARS: 4. Lee 8.20 5. Heer 7.95; Grupe 7.55, Van Lith 7.55, Schmieg 7.45, Taryn Kraft 6.85
BEAM: 4. (tie) Heer, Teveldal, Grupe 8.4; Marley Sundin 7.90, Kraft 7.65, Lee 7.20
FLOOR: 4. Grupe 9.00; Lee 8.55, Van Lith 8.50, Teveldal 8.10, Heer 7.95, Sundin 6.95
ALL-AROUND: 4. Grupe 33.65, Heer 33.00, Lee 32.80
Estelline-Hendricks Meet
TEAM POINTS: Estelline-Hendricks 142.950, Britton-Hecla 130.850, SF Lincoln JV 103.850, SF Washington 74.800
VAULT: Abby Lee 8.60, Jaelee Grupe 8.50, Ava Teveldal 8.25, Kennady Van Lith 8.25, Brynlee Schmieg 8.00, Taryn Kraft 7.90, McKenna Heer 7.90
BARS: Lee 7.40, Van Lith 7.30, Heer 7.00, Grupe 6.80, Kraft 6.60, Schmieg 6.25, Teveldal 5.55
BEAM: Teveldal 9.15, Kraft 8.00, Grupe 7.80, Lee 7.70, Marley Sundin 7.55, Heer 7.40, Schmieg 6.90
FLOOR: Van Lith 9.20, Grupe 9.10, Lee 9.05, Teveldal 8.75, Sundin 8.35, Schmieg 8.25, Heer 8.00
ALL-AROUND: Lee 32.75, Grupe 32.20, Teveldal 31.70, Heer 30.30, Schmieg 29.40
