Glen Strandberg
Sports Editor

The gymnastics program at Park (Cottage Grove) is a talented group, but on Thursday, Feb. 8, Forest Lake helped them look even better during a 149.575 - 141.50 Ranger loss.

Along the way, Park’s Kayla Land recorded a perfect 10.0 on the floor exercise, which provides more proof that a win just wasn’t going to happen for Forest Lake.

“Tonight was very disappointing,” head coach Nancy Ellias shared. “At this point in the season, we can’t have all the falls we had — especially on bars and floor!”

Ellias noted that even the balance beam portion lacked focus, and that the varsity team lost five points from its total score, strictly because of falls. That is in addition to the regular deductions that occur during a routine.

“That is huge!” Ellias stated. “It seemed very contagious, that when we had a fall or unfocused moment in a routine, the next two or three, or more, seemed to carry that negativity into the following routines.”

Considering all of those mistakes, Ellias plans to have some mental practice before sections arrive on Saturday, Feb. 17 at Irondale High School.

In Thursday night’s varsity competition, there wasn’t a personal best among the group, which Ellias felt summed up the meet.

Taylor Brett came in third in the all-around, with a third place on the vault and a third on the balance beam.

Nicole Paulson captured a second on the vault and a third place on the uneven bars.

“Both Nicole and Taylor have a chance at qualifying for state if they hit on every event,” Ellias observed.

The JV was also unsuccessful against the Wolfpack, but the final score was much closer than the varsity, 131.25-130.90.

Scotti Sampair led the team with a first in the all-around, and a third place on the bars.

Adriane Kraus picked up a second in the all-around after taking first on the floor exercise, third on the vault and a third on the balance beam.

Esther Jandrich jumped up for a first in the vault; Courtney Klein earned a second on the vault and a third place on the bars, and Chelsea Fitzmorris took second on the uneven bars.

The junior varsity finished its season with the Suburban East Conference meet on Feb. 10, so now it’s strictly varsity team members who will focus on the section tournament.

Practice was closed to only those girls who will compete on Saturday.

“Hopefully they can get it together and come on strong at sections,” Ellias said.

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