Glen Strandberg
Sports Editor

From what head coach Nancy Ellias says, the gymnastics team's loss to White Bear Lake on Thursday, Jan. 4, did not turn out the way she had imagined.

According to Ellias, the girls were in good form during the last two weeks of practice, with many of the team members putting more difficult skills into their routines.

"That is one, very strong positive," she shared after the 141.60 to 139.275 loss. "Our warm-up before the meet was good, but we started out bad with a couple falls and I guess we just couldn't shake that."

Ellias said the meet felt similar to the loss against Roseville in that what she had hoped for did not materialize once the competition began.

"I was so excited for this meet because I just knew we could beat White Bear," she noted. "Our scores had been higher in comparison, and were ranked eighth in the state, while White Bear was 12th."

So the Rangers felt good going in, but with the newer, bigger skills, the girls just couldn't pull it off.

Freshman Taylor Brett used a second place on the balance beam and a third place on the vault to capture a second in the all-around. Junior Chelsea Uram stepped up to take third in the all-around, while Nicole Paulson earned second on the vault and third on the uneven bars. Maddie Crew came in with a second place on the floor exercise.

MGGOA INVITATIONAL

On Saturday, Forest Lake was part of the super-competitive Upper Division at the MGGOA meet held in Roseville, which is sponsored by gymnastic judges and is regarded as one of the best meets of the season.

Ellias was hoping her girls could surpass White Bear Lake in the overall standings, but the Rangers came in fifth place -- with a much improved score of 143.15 -- while White Bear ended up in fourth with 144.275 points. To the surprise of no one, the defending state champion Roseville Raiders won the competition with a 152.45 total.

Ellias said the day was far better than Thursday's crash and burn as the team had only one fall as opposed to three against the Bears.

"We got our highest team event scores on vault and floor this meet," Ellias shared. "Nicole (Paulson) was our star - her highest AA (all-around) score of 38.10 puts her in the elite group of gymnasts in the state! She had personal bests on vault, bars, beam and AA."

Paulson used a second place on the bars, a fourth on both the vault and the floor exercise as well as a ninth place on the balance beam to finish an impressive fourth in the all-around.

Also doing well for Forest Lake was Brett, who pulled off personal bests on the vault, the bars and the all-around, and finished with 37.025 points.

Besides having a tough time on the balance beam, Crew was solid in all disciplines, and Uram followed up on the White Bear meet with a great vault; sophomore Courtney Klein contributed nicely on three events and senior Chelsea Fitzmorris helped out on the uneven bars.

With a bye this week, the team will have an intense series of practices, focusing on endurance in hopes of eliminating the bent legs and low leaps.

The Rangers next meet is not until Thursday, Jan. 18 when Cretin-Derham Hall comes to Forest Lake.

Top of Page