Gymnasts Earn Titles At State Meet

Eastern Montana Gymnastics was well represented at the Montana State Gymnastics Championships in Helena on March 24-26, as eight gymnasts came away with 12 state championships.

In the bronze level, Ila Lehner completed her season by winning vault, uneven bars and the all-around. Lehner’s uneven bar routine score was the highest of all 650-plus athletes that competed. Cora Hove also showed what she was capable of and won a state championship on floor. In addition to winning her three championships in her age group of 12, Lehner was also second on balance beam and fourth on floor. Coming in second to Lehner frequently this year but amazing in her own right, Mallory Meissner was second on vault, uneven bars and the all-around, as well as fourth on balance beam and fifth on floor.

Allie Olson competed in arguably the toughest age group in the bronze level. Out of 14 gymnasts, she was sixth on vault and all-around and tied for seventh on both uneven bars and floor. Paislee Hanson was tied for fourth on vault, fourth on uneven bars and all-around and fifth on floor, out of 11 in her age group. In addition to her floor championship, Hove was also tied for second on vault, second on uneven bars and fifth all-around, out of 14. Chassie Sikveland was sixth on floor and tied for seventh on balance beam, out of 15 gymnasts. Brooklyn Britt was also in an incredibly tough age group of 16 and finished eighth on floor. Emersyn Knuth finished her competition season strong with a sixth place finish on balance beam. The EMG bronze team won fifth place out of 12 teams.

While the silver level EMG gymnasts did not bring home any state championships, they still had a strong showing. Jud Rehbein, in an age group of 12, placed third on floor and fourth on vault, balance beam and allaround. Finishing up a strong year, Azzy Toavs placed third on floor and tied for sixth on vault and was sixth allaround, out of 14 gymnasts. Peyton Cool captured fourth on vault, fifth on uneven bars and sixth on both balance beam and all-around. Brooklynn Boren had her best meet of the season and was third on floor. EMG’s Silver team finished 11th of 16 teams.

EMG’s Gold team brought home the second-place trophy, out of 13 teams, beating its season-best score by almost two points. Kendra Linder brought home state championships on the vault (also the highest score out of all 91 Gold gymnasts) and in the all-around, while Lina Smith won the beam and tied for first all-around (tied for fourth all-around overall). EMG showed off their strong balance beam routines, with Ella Beery, Ava Hove and Ali Gibbs each winning their respective age groups and bringing home the state championship. Hove’s balance beam routine scored the highest, out of all age groups. Justine Massar rounded out the winning day, as she won the uneven bars in her age group and tied for third overall out of all gold gymnasts.

Smith, in her age group of 13, and in addition to her state championships, also placed fourth on vault and floor and tied for third on uneven bars. Besides her wins in vault and all-around, Linder was also second on balance beam, tied for third on uneven bars and fourth on floor in her age group of 11. Hove, in addition to her beam win, was second all-around, tied for fourth on floor, and fifth on both vault and uneven bars in her age group of 11. Ali, besides winning beam in her age group of 11, was also sixth on vault, fifth on uneven bars and third all-around. In addition to her uneven bars championship, Massar was also fourth on balance beam and sixth allaround, in her age group of 11. Besides winning balance beam in her age group of 12, Beery was also third on vault, sixth on bars, tied for fifth on floor and second all-around. Emma Hove, in the same age group, was second on balance beam, third all-around, fourth on uneven bars and tied for fourth on vault. In an age group of 11, Aspen Boje was tied for fifth on floor and sixth on uneven bars. Aubrey Ziegler placed fourth on floor and sixth on vault, out of 12 gymnasts in her age group. Nomi Deserly laid down an outstanding balance beam routine and finished second in her age group of 12 gymnasts.

Scores (Vault, Uneven Bars, Balance Beam, Floor, All Around) Bronze:

Ila Lehner (Circle)—9.65, 9.85, 9.3, 9.325, 38.125 Mallory Meissner (Circle)— 9.3, 9.7, 9.1, 9.3, 37.4 Allie Olson (Circle)—9.375, 9.5, 9.225, 9.275, 37.375 Paislee Hanson (Circle)— 9.15, 9.4, 9.05, 9.325, 36.925 Cora Hove (Circle)—9.5, 9.6, 8.3, 9.225, 36.625 Brooklyn Britt (Glendive)— 8.95, 9.15, 8.975, 9.3, 36.375 Chassie Sikveland (Circle)— 8.8, 9.05, 9.15, 9.2, 36.2 Emersyn Knuth (Circle)— 8.6, 9.25, 9.025, 9.25,

36.125

Silver:

Jud Rehbein (Richey)—9.1, 9.275, 9.3, 9.325, 37.0 Azzy Toavs (Wolf Point)—8.9, 9.2, 9.3, 9.375, 36.775 Peyton Cool (Glendive)— 9.025, 9.5, 9.275, 8.85, 36.65 Brooklynn Boren (Glendive)— 8.6, 9.325, 8.7, 9.175, 35.8

Gold:

Lina Smith (Richey)—9.15, 9.325, 9.45, 9.35, 37.275 Kendra Linder (Glendive)— 9.55, 9.35, 9.0, 9.25, 37.15 Ava Hove (Circle)—9.15, 9.1, 9.625, 9.25, 37.125 Ali Gibbs (Circle)—9.15, 9.3, 9.05, 8.975, 36.475 Justine Massar (Circle)— 8.65, 9.525, 9.15, 9.05, 36.375 Ella Beery (Circle)—8.95, 8.75, 9.25, 9.3, 36.25 Emma Hove (Circle)—8.85, 8.925, 9.1, 9.075, 35.95 Aspen Boje (Glendive)— 8.75, 9.1, 8.75, 9.225, 35.825 Aubrey Ziegler (Glendive)— 8.775, 8.5, 8.25, 9.35, 34.875 Nomi Deserly (Wolf Point)—8.65, 8.275, 9.05, 8.8, 34.775