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February 22, 2005
Hamline gymnastics dominates Winona State University
Aaron Swanum
Sports Editor
Hamline’s gymnasts continued their strong showing this season, easily defeating Winona State University at Hamline on Feb. 16.
The Pipers were able to defeat Winona in every single event of the competition and ultimately beat the Warriors by a score of 178.675-167.575.
Hamline’s Brittany Ehlis scored a 36.15 to take home first place in the all-around event. She posted scores of 9.175 in the uneven bars and 9.15 in the floor exercise.
Ashley Calhoon totaled a 9.025 in the vault, and Meggan McClelland scored a 9.3 on the balance beam.
As a team, Hamline scored their best in the balance beam event, scoring a 44.85.
Head coach Doug Byrnes was happy with the results of the meet, saying, “It went really well and the girls competed strongly. We definitely haven’t peaked, though, and we really need to peak on March 18 at regionals.”
On the Saturday before the Winona meet, Hamline placed second at the “Best of Minnesota” meet held at the University of Minnesota.
Hamline took second place in the three-team competition and ended the night with a score of 182.475.
Minnesota, a Division I competitor and currently ranked 25th in the nation, ended the night in first place with a score of 194.425; Division III Gustavus finished third with a 178.0.
The only other collegiate gymnastics program in Minnesota, Winona State University, did not compete in this competition and had no competition scheduled that weekend.
The U of M’s Laura Johnson was the all-around winner with a score of 38.700, and Hamline’s Ehlis was runner-up with a 36.875.
Those two athletes were the only competitors in the all-around competition that night.
By placing ahead of Gustavus, Hamline has now beat the Gusties in every meeting between the two teams this year č three competitions in all.
The Pipers defeated the Gusties in all four events and posted their best performance of the night in the floor exercise, scoring 47.45 as a team.
Other key performances of the night included seniors Jackie Wurst and Calhoon each scoring a 9.25 in the vault. McClelland scored a 9.375 in the balance beam event.
Byrnes noted that McClelland had been struggling all season on a “very difficult” balance beam routine and said he was happy for McClelland when she “nailed her routine” during the competition.
Hamline’s Katie Davis also saw success, competing “very well” with a new vault that she had never used before in competition.
Regarding the Pipers’ domination over the Gusties this season, Byrnes noted that Gustavus has been battling injuries this year, as well as dealing with the loss of talent from previous years. He pointed out the two sides still compete hard against one another.
“It is a spirited rivalry between Hamline and Gustavus,” he said. “They want to beat us and we want to beat them, but what matters most is not that we beat them now, but that we beat them at regions, because we need success there to get to nationals.”
Hamline will be in action next on Friday, Feb. 25, when they travel to UW-Stout. Meet time is set for 7 p.m.
The WIAC/NCGA West Regional meet will be held on Friday, March 18.
Posted by msveum at February 22, 2005 05:16 PM
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