GYMNASTICS: New Ulm sinks Worthington at home

WORTHINGTON — Tara Svalland had nearly a perfect night.

A sophomore on Worthington’s gymnastics team, Svalland won three events and the all-around in Tuesday’s meet with New Ulm.

Unfortunately, Svalland was the only Trojan to finish in the top three in the events as the Eagles scored 127.55 points, edging Worthington’s score of 122.5.

“We had an injury so we had a lot of people that had to step up into some varsity spots that hadn’t been there before,” WHS head coach Joni Reitmeier said. “That’s always a scary experience. We had some nerves, for sure. Those girls did well. We just have to get mentally strong and come back and work hard tomorrow because we have our first conference meet on Thursday.”

The Trojans (1-1) were fresh off a season-opening victory a week ago, but suffered a setback on Tuesday.

“I think the girls weren’t as confident as they were in the first meet and I’m not sure why,” Reitmeier said. “I think some of it is inexperience because we did have quite a few girls step up into a varsity role that they haven’t been in before. I also think the mental toughness today wasn’t there. If we struggled on one event, we couldn’t put it behind us and move on and get to that next event and do well. We just kept struggling. Instead of feeding on a positive note, we fed on a negative note, unfortunately.”

Worthington had trouble staying on the beam and scored 28.75 points, while NU had 31.

The Trojans had a 34.35 on the vault, 27.45 on the bars and 32.05 on the floor.

The Eagles scored 34.8 on the vault, 29.425 on the bars and 32.325 on the floor.

“We just have to clean up some routines,” Reitmeier said. “We had some falls on floor, which is not normal for us. We had eight falls on beam, which is something we don’t want to continue. If you look at those things, we lost about three points on beam and quite a few on floor. If we can clean that stuff up, we’ll be right back where we needed to be and right back on track.”

Svalland won the vault with a score of 9.3, while NU’s Michaela Otterslatter was second with an 8.9.

Svalland also won the bars with a 7.9, while Otterslatter was second with a 7.525.

Otterslatter won the beam with a score of 8.35, while Svalland was third with a 7.85.

Svalland won the floor with a score of 8.9, while Otterslatter was second with an 8.425.

In the all-around, Svalland was first with a 33.95, while Otterslatter was a close second with 33.2 combined points.

“She had a wonderful meet,” Reitmeier said of Svalland. “She really stepped for us and led the team. That’s what we need, we just need more of them. We definitely have the potential on the team.”

The Trojans will host Marshall on Thursday.

In the junior varsity meet, the Eagles scored 107.6 points, while the Trojans finished with 105.55.

Tori Svalland earned a first-place finish on the beam with a 6.8, while Allison Vote (6.7) and Stephanie Jaycox (6.3) gave the Trojans a sweep of the top three places.

Anna Koepsell was third on the vault with a score of 7.95, while Haley Gravenhof was third on the floor with a 7.2, and won the all-around with a score of 26.8.

PA defeats Luverne

LUVERNE — Amber Haupert was first in two events and was second in two more, leading Pipestone Area past Luverne.

The Arrows finished with 130.475 points, while Luverne scored a combined 118.85 points.

Haupert was first on the bars with a score of 8.25 and on the floor with an 8.925.

She also won the all-around with a 34.325.

The Arrow gymnast was second on the vault (8.95) and on the beam (8.2).

Luverne’s Gretchen Nowatzki was first on the vault with a 9.175, while PA’s Londyn Swenson was third with an 8.7.

Swenson claimed first on the beam with a score of 8.35, while Nowatzki was third with an 8.1.

PA’s Shanda Bogstad was second on the bars with an 8.075, while Luverne’s Melanie VanMeeteren was third with a 7.6.

Swenson was also second on the floor with an 8.65, while Nowatzki was third with an 8.425.

In the all-around, Swenson was second with a 33.25, while Cardinal Lauren Witte was third with a 29.225.

Tags: pipestone area, sports, prep, gymnastics, trojans, luverne