Top-ranked South goes to state team competition Friday
A season-ending injury not only is devastating to a gymnast, it tends to be pretty rough on her team.
Lakeville South captain Alexa Drew, one of the Cougars’ top all-arounders, saw her 2023-24 season end early after being injured in January. Clearly, that caused the Cougars to wonder what was next.
It turned out to be “next gymnast up.” Summer Theis, a sophomore, assumed Drew’s spot as an all-arounder and the No. 1-ranked Cougars were deep enough to backfill the rest of the lineup to just keep on trucking. They defeated No. 2-ranked Owatonna by about half a point at the Section 1AA meet Feb. 16 in Rochester to advance to the state Class AA team competition at 6 p.m. Friday at Roy Wilkins Auditorium in St. Paul.
Three gymnasts from South and four from Farmington will be in the state individual competition at 6 p.m. Saturday, also at Wilkins Auditorium.
Lakeville South and Owatonna both spent time at No. 1 in the state coaches association rankings. South’s victory at the Section 1AA meet means the Cougars will go into the state meet as favorites. Their task might have been made a little easier when No. 3-ranked Elk River/Zimmerman also failed to advance out of its section. Top-10 teams Forest Lake, Hopkins, St. Cloud Tech, Cretin-Derham Hall and St. Michael-Albertville are in the field, though.
“It’s going to be a competitive meet and any team can come out on top,” South coach Dusty Rotegard wrote in an email. “All we can control is what we do – one skill, one routine, one event at a time.”
Lakeville South and Owatonna have been at several of the same meets this season, and each time the difference between the teams was a fraction of a point. At sections, however, the Cougars wouldn’t have Drew – part of a powerhouse trio of all-arounders that includes Piper Keith and Autumn Schmidt.
That’s where Theis came in. “She began the year as a bar, beam and floor competitor, but after Alexa’s injury she’s worked to fill the void on vault and has become a very solid (all-around) competitor,” Rotegard said.
She did well enough to take fourth in the Section 1AA all-around behind teammates Schmidt (first) and Keith (second), and third-place Halle Theis of Owatonna.
“Summer has been a behind-the-scenes MVP this year,” said her coach.
The Cougars finished with 147.525 points to Owatonna’s 147.05. Tenth-ranked Farmington was third in the Section 1AA meet with 144.75, a score that would have been good enough to win several other sections. Lakeville North took fourth in the seven-team section with 136.65.
Schmidt (37.375) and Keith (37.075) qualified for the state individual competition as all-arounders.
Keith took first on vault with 9.65, followed by four Owatonna gymnasts. Farmington’s Emma Oden scored 9.35 on uneven bars to win the section championship. Schmidt (9.3) and Keith (9.2) took second and third, and Emerson Marken of Farmington earned a trip to state in the event by finishing fifth with 9.1.
Keith (9.3) and Schmidt (9.25) were first and second on balance beam. Lauren Johnson of Farmington claimed third and a state berth, scoring 9.25. Reese King of Lakeville South was one of four gymnasts to score 9.2 on beam but won a tiebreaker to advance to state in the event.
Floor exercise champion was Macyn Hinz of Farmington, who scored 9.6.
Marken was Farmington’s top all-arounder at the Section 1AA meet, scoring 34.025 to place eighth. Lakeville North’s Julie Dawson was sixth, scoring 35.1.
Section 3AA
East Ridge won the Section 3AA team championship Feb. 16 at Eastview High School against a group of contenders that included several programs from the South Suburban Conference.
Although East Ridge was not ranked by the state coaches association, the Raptors’ total of 141.925 was enough to send them to the state meet. Seventeenth-ranked Rosemount (140.325), 20th-ranked Apple Valley/Eastview (138.775) and Eagan (136.35) were second through fourth.
Lauren Heidemann of Apple Valley/Eastview was section champion on bars, scoring 9.025 to earn a place in Saturday’s state individual competition. Heidemann also will compete at state on balance beam after finishing fifth in the section with 9.175.
Other individual state qualifiers include Carys Sundberg of Eagan on bars (third, 8.65), Jaeleigh Eklund of Eagan on bars (fourth, 8.625), Avarie Otto of Rosemount on floor (third, 9.275), Faith Green of Rosemount on vault (sixth, 9.075), Amelia Zaske of Rosemount on beam (third, 9.35), Gwenyth Bodnar of Apple Valley/Eastview on beam (fourth, 9.3) and floor (tied for fourth, 9.25) and Brianna Gootee of Apple Valley/Eastview (tied for fourth, 9.25).
Eagan’s Eklund was about half a point from qualifying for state as an all-arounder, finishing fifth with 35.05. Alexa Erzar, Reagan Chappell and Amelia Sell, all of Rosemount, and Sundberg of Eagan also placed in the top 10 in the all-around. Apple Valley/Eastview’s Heidemann qualified for state in the only two Section 3AA events in which she competed.
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