ROSEVILLE — Stillwater’s entire gymnastics lineup qualified for the state meet, just not the team competition.
The Ponies will be represented by five individuals, but were denied an opportunity to compete at team state after placing second behind Cretin-Derham Hall in the Section 4AA Meet on Saturday, Feb. 17 at Roseville Area High School.
The Raiders, who also defeated Stillwater in a Suburban East Conference dual meet earlier this season, posted a score of 147.0 to outdistance the runner-up Ponies (141.825) and the rest of the nine-team section field. White Bear Lake placed third with a total of 136.35.
Cretin-Derham Hall advances to state for the first time since 2010.
Stillwater was the defending section champion and had claimed six of the previous seven titles, but the Raiders delivered an impressive performance behind athletes that occupied three of the top four places in the all-around.
“That was well out of our range,” Ponies co-head coach Dusty Dennis said. “It wasn’t a bitter defeat because even if we all hit we were not going to get that. (The Raiders) had a very nice day and did a nice job. They deserved to win.”
The Ponies (6-2 SEC, 6-2), who tied East Ridge (6-2) for third place in the Suburban East behind conference co-champions Forest Lake (7-1) and Cretin-Derham Hall (7-1), will be well represented with all five members of the section lineup qualifying for the individual state meet on Saturday, Feb. 24.
The state team competition, which will also include SEC teams East Ridge (Section 3AA), Cretin-Derham Hall (4AA) and Forest Lake (7AA) is scheduled for Friday, Feb. 23, also at Roy Wilkins Auditorium in St. Paul.
Stillwater received its top scores in its first two rotations at the section meet, the floor exercise (36.2) and vault (37.0).
Cretin-Derham Hall started quickly with team score of 37.5 in the beam, which can be a dangerous event to start on, but the Raiders nailed their routines and that positive momentum carried throughout the remainder of the meet.
“They were really happy and cheering and you could tell they were fired up for this,” Dennis said.
Junior Liberty Quast, who placed fifth in the all-around with a total of 35.75, captured the individual section title in the vault for the Ponies with a score of 9.725. Senior Ava Biederman also advanced to state in the event after placing fourth with a score of 9.3.
The top three all-around gymnasts each qualified for individual competition and the top three gymnasts in each event who are not already qualified in the all-around, also advance to state.
“We got all five girls in,” Dennis said. “After we saw their score we didn’t really look at the individual scores. We thought we’d get one or two in, but then we found out we got all five so that was nice. That was a pleasant surprise. It’s a humble group of kids and they were all super happy to go to state.”
Cretin-Derham Hall’s Delaney Cunnington won the all-around with a score of 38.2 while Avery Dox (37.15) of Mounds View/Irondale and Leah DiNardo (37.05) of Cretin-Derham Hall claimed the top three spots in the all-around.
Quast also advanced to state in the uneven bars after placing fourth with a score of 8.8.
Stillwater qualified three entries for state in the floor, including seniors Abbey Savelkoul (9.2), Chloe Stanton (9.125) and Biederman (9.1), who placed fourth through sixth in the event.
Senior Zoe Chase also placed sixth to qualify for state in the beam with a score of 9.175.
Quast was a state medalist in the vault a year ago, but the Ponies returned little varsity experience after graduating much of the lineup that contributed to a fourth-place finish at state.
“Abbey was new and Ava was a little bit on varsity last year, but for the most part we had a bunch of kids that had been JV for most of their gymnastics career,” Dennis said. “They stepped up and filled some big shoes in their senior year. That’s a pretty cool success story that they were able to fill those shoes. They worked hard and the effort they put in to get where they got was pretty amazing.”
Stillwater exceeded most reasonable expectations for the season, the coach suggested.
“One-hundred percent,” Dennis said. “When (co-head coach Joan Ledson) and I were talking before the season I didn’t feel like we were goign to get to 140, that would be a reach. The girls deserve the credit, they worked so hard. We ended up getting 145, which was amazing for a season high. They worked really hard because they did not have those skills last year and didn’t really have them at the beginning of the year, but they played off a bunch of stuff and maximized as much as they could. To me, they overachieved and went beyond expectations.”
With a small team that featured as many juniors and seniors (6) as it did seventh- through ninth-graders, the Ponies were able to stay healthy while showing strong improvement throughout the season. Stillwater scored more than 140 points in six of its last seven meets this season.
“The season was a super big success,” Dennis said. “We exceeded expectations 100 percent. We only had 12 girls so we had no room for error and they worked through the issues they did have.
“The girls were really focused on themselves and we were trying not to make it about us and them. I think in the end there weren’t a lot of tears because they understood when they saw the scores and that it was a success for Cretin and no matter how hard they worked they were not going to hit that mark.”
Team standings
1. Cretin-Derham Hall 147.0; 2. Stillwater 141.825; 3. White Bear Lake 136.35; 4. Mounds View/Irondale 135.95; 5. Roseville 128.4; 6. North St. Paul 119.425; 7. St. Paul Central 112.75; 8. Tartan 110.825; 9. St. Paul Johnson 94.475.
Individual results
Vault (Stillwater 37.0) — *1. Liberty Quast (St) 9.725; *2, tie, Avery Dox (MV/Ir) 9.5 and Delaney Cunnington (C-DH) 9.5; *4. Ava Biederman (St) 9.3; *5. Addy Mueller (WBL) 9.25; *6. Leah DiNardo (C-DH) 9.225; 8. Abbey Savelkoul (St) 9.1; 12. Zoe Chase (St) 8.875; 22. Chloe Stanton (St) 8.25.
Uneven bars (Stillwater 33.5) — *1. Delaney Cunnington (C-DH) 9.525; *2. Leah DiNardo (C-DH) 9.125; *3. Addy Mueller (WBL) 9.05; *4. Liberty Quast (St) 8.8; *5. Avery Dox (MV/Ir) 8.75; *6. Anna Lentz (C-DH) 8.55; 9. Zoe Chase (St) 8.3; 11. Ava Biederman (St) 8.25; 12. Abbey Savelkoul (St) 8.15; 19. Chloe Stanton (St) 7.65.
Beam (Stillwater 35.125) — *1. Delaney Cunnington (C-DH) 9.575; *2. Avery Dox (MV/Ir) 9.5; *3. Kana Try (C-DH) 9.4; *4. Anna Lentz (C-DH) 9.3; *5. Leah DiNardo (C-DH) 9.225; *6. Zoe Chase (St) 9.175; 7. Ava Biederman (St) 8.85; 8. Chloe Stanton (St) 8.65; 12. Liberty Quast (St) 8.45; 16. Abbey Savelkoul (St) 8.1.
Floor (Stillwater 36.2) — *1. Delaney Cunnington (C-DH) 9.6; *2. Leah DiNardo (C-DH) 9.425; *3. Avery Dox (MV/Ir) 9.4; *4. Abbey Savelkoul (St) 9.2; *5. Chloe Stanton (St) 9.125; *6. Ava Biederman (St) 9.1; 10. Liberty Quast (St) 8.775; 15. Zoe Chase (St) 8.6.
All-around — *1. Delaney Cunnington (C-DH) 38.2; *2. Avery Dox (MV/Ir) 37.15; *3. Leah DiNardo (C-DH) 37.0; 5. Liberty Quast (St) 35.75; 8. Ava Biederman (St) 35.5; 9. Zoe Chase (St) 34.95; 10. Abbey Savelkoul (St) 34.55; 12. Chloe Stanton (St) 33.675.
* Individual state qualifier
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