Huskies take second in Lakeville

The Owatonna Huskies took home second place at the Lakeville Invitational gymnastics tournament last weekend after being edged out 145.050-144.700 by Stillwater.

Owatonna put on another top-notch display to start its day in Lakeville; however, some late setbacks on the uneven bars in the team’s final event proved costly.

“Two falls on the bars hurt a bit, but regardless we had another great day. After putting up a season-high team score against Faribault and winning in Farmington the other week, we’ve gained a lot of momentum. Our girls know we could have been better today, and we know there are going to be setbacks, but overall, we know it’s a steady climb for us to the top,” said Owatonna Head Coach Evan Moe.

Just like in Farmington, Owatonna began its competition in Lakeville with a trip to the balance beam.

The Huskies wasted no time jumping toward the top of the scoreboards after the quartet of Kaitlyn Cobban, Kendra Miller, Averie Roush, and Delia Neumann collected a season-high score of 37.050.

Leading the Huskies on the beam was Cobban, who put up a career-best score of 9.450.

After the beam, Owatonna took the floor – an event where the team has put up myriad high-scoring routines over the course of the season.

The Huskies kept the trend alive by posting a team score of 36.55 behind a team-best 9.500 routine from Chloe Myer.

Also scoring big for the Huskies was Cobban with a 9.250, Emma Johnson at 9.100, and Johanna Spielman’s 8.700.

Having amassed a score of 73.600 through two events, Owatonna built on its hot start by recording a season-best performance on the vault.

Leading the way on the vault for Owatonna was Jozie Johnson, whose 9.550-point routine set a new career-best for the veteran gymnast.

Also breaking the nine-point threshold were Miller at 9.400, Emma Johnson at 9.350, and Roush at 9.100.

With 111 team points after three events, Owatonna put itself in a prime position to compete for the win with one event remaining: the bars.

According to Moe, the bars have proven to be the most difficult event for the Huskies over the course of the season, and that was also true in Lakeville.

With falls in two routines on the bars, Owatonna was forced to take a lower score than it would have hoped into its final tally, ultimately making a difference in the team’s final result.

However, Huskies fans were not left without a good show in the event.

Seventh-grader Delia Neumann made the crowd go wild after landing a double-backflip on her dismount from the bars–just the second time she has ever landed the stunt in a competition.

Neumann’s spectacle was enough to earn her a team-high score of 8.850 in the event.

Scoring alongside Neumann were Jozie Johnson with an 8.500, Myer with a 8.350, and Emma Johnson with an even 8.000.

Earlier in the week, Owatonna put up a season-high team score of 144.050 against the Faribault Falcons.

En route to the win, Owatonna scored 37.375 on the floor, 36.975 on the vault, 35.425 on the beam, and 34.275 on the bars.

Owatonna’s next competition will come at home in an invitational scheduled for Friday, Jan. 20 at 6:30 p.m.