OHS gymnastics repeats on state podium
Owatonna’s Emma Johson does a back handstand on the balance beam at the MSHSL state meet. Johnson was asked to fill in for injured Chloe Myer in sections and also competed at state, earning crucial scores during Owatonna’s run to third place. Staff photo by Johnnie Phillips
The Owatonna Huskies placed third at the Minnesota State High School League state tournament in St. Paul today after a narrow battle for first went the way of New Prague.
Owatonna scored 144.125 team points, but was edged out by St. Cloud Cathedral’s 146.275 and eventual winners New Prague’s 146.400.
“The girls had a great meet. An absolute hit meet I think I’d even say. I think we stuck 18 of 20, if not 19 of 20 routines. Five-for-five on the beam was huge. We stayed aggressive, and even though we didn’t finish out as strong as we would have wanted, we knew we were in the hunt for the podium. It was a heck of a year,” said Owatonna head coach Evan Moe.
The Huskies began their day on the bars with a strong 34.700 performance led by Delia Neumann’s 8.950 points.
Up next was the balance beam, where Kaitlyn Cobban’s 9.400 was a team-high en route to a score of 36.075.
The Huskies trailed by just under two points to SCC and New Prague going into the floor, but managed to keep the scores close with a 36.575-point total.
Emma Johnson’s 9.275 was a team-high.
Rounding out the meet was the vault, where Owatonna needed a 2.275-point edge over New Prague’s bar routine to score the win.
Despite putting up a solid 36.775, the Huskies could not outscore the Trojans, who matched their exact score at 36.775.
Jozie Johnson’s 9.500-point routine led the team.
After taking third, Owatonna’s 2022-23 season officially came to an end with the team earning yet another podium finish after taking third in 2020-21 and sixth in 2021-22.