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WORTHINGTON -- In their first meet of the 2022-23 gymnastics season Tuesday night, the Worthington Trojans had no falls on the balance beam and rolled to a 139.350 to 130.325 victory over Luverne in Worthington.
“Hopefully that continues,” said a happy WHS head coach Joni Reitmeier. “They’ve been working very hard on everything. We had some difficulties on vault. That’s the first meet. But that’s really great that they can come out on the beam. … Five in a row, that’s amazing. A coach can always be excited about that.”
Junior Olivia Barber, who placed first on the beam and also first on the uneven parallel bars, achieved a first in the all-around as well, with a score of 35.575.
The balance beam is described by many gymnasts as the most troublesome event in the sport. Worthington took on the beam in its third rotation, immediately after the vault, and the girls fed off each others’ performances to go 5-for-5.
“We’ve been working incredibly hard on the beam and trying to get all the routines stuck,” said Barber, whose beam score was 9.375. She scored an 8.375 on the bars and a second-place 9.125 score on the team’s final event, the floor exercise. She was sixth on the vault.
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Two firsts and an all-around first, besides. Not bad for the first meet of the season.
“The team support always helps, and the coaches. It’s just amazing the support they give us,” Barber said after the meet. “I was not expecting that (the firsts). I came with high hopes and confidence. I wasn’t thinking about the scores.”
Teammate Kelsey Soleta won the vaulting competition with a 9.150. Another Trojan, Addison Gerber, was first in the floor exercise with 9.250.
Gerber finished fourth in vault (8.900), tied for third on bars (7.950) and tied for fourth on beam (8.750) on the way to a second-place all-around score of 34.850.
Soleta was third in the all-around (34.500). Besides winning the vault, she was fourth on bars (7.875) and third on beam (9.125).
Worthington’s Cristy Banegas finished second on beam (9.150) after completing her routine with an outstanding twisting dismount. She tied for third on vault (7.950) and placed third on floor (9.025) en route to a fourth-place 34.425 in the all-around.
WHS competed without its most decorated performer, junior Hali Bullerman, who is nursing a wrist injury sustained at the end of volleyball season.
“It was a great start. We are kind of a reconfigured team this year,” said Reitmeier. “We have some new girls mixed with some veterans. And so it’s just learning how to gain confidence and compete as a whole.”
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Luverne’s Amira Cowell placed second on vault (9.125) and second on bars (7.975). Cardinal Ella Reisdorfer was third on vault (9.050) and tied for fourth on beam (8.750) and floor (8.900).
Worthington won the junior varsity meet 139.350 to 130.325. Firsts were turned in by Trojans Mia Nixon on vault (8.450) and beam (8.300), Claire Meyer on bars (7.400), Brooklyn Dykstra on floor (8.000) and Jordis Weber in the all-around (30.700).
