by Nicole Kilgo
For their last dual meet the Irish gymnasts were up against Kimball-EV-W on Feb. 8th. The Irish came out on top with a final score of 124.505 to Kimball’s 117. Angie Glunz received second place in the all around with a total of 30.5. Amanda Blade placed third in all around with a 29.8. Nicole Kilgo received second place on beam with an 8.15. “Vault is always strong, but our beam and floor really shined,” said head coach Jinae O’Connor, “It is enjoyable to see the girls excel throughout the season. We started out with a 113 and finished the regular season with a 124.”
On February 17th the Irish gymnasts headed off to Big Lake for the section 5A regional tournament. The top team would advance to state and the top four individuals on each event including all around would advance.
“Being that we have the two-time state champions in our conference our state dreams were kind of crushed,” said Jacki Vandergon. “I wish I could compete again because I don’t think I did my best.”
The team finished sixth with a 119.25 out of the ten teams. “Our goal was to get fifth place and we knew we could do it. We knew the teams we could beat and we knew the teams we couldn’t beat,” said Angie Glunz. “Unfortunately we had a rough time on beam and our floor scores weren’t as high as they normally were.”
Leigha Mooney returned for regions and competed in all around, but with her return came the loss of yet another strong gymnast, Amanda Blade.
The top team was Big Lake and individuals from Big Lake, Monticello and St. Michael-Albertville will move on to state.