Tribune Staff Report
FERGUS FALLS - The Willmar gymnastics team scored 146.60 points to dethrone perennial Central Lakes Conference champion St. Cloud Tech by 0.30 at the conference championships on Saturday.
Willmar, which edge Tech in a dual meet earlier this season, clairmed the CLC championship for the first time since the 1997-98 season. Tech had won 10 consecutive conference championships before Saturday.
“This was a big win for our program,” said Cardinals co-head coach Jodi Mottinger. “To beat Tech twice in a season is a huge accomplishment for the team. The girls were focuses and ready.”
Willmar’s Stephanie Thompson placed second all-around at 37.10 and Haley Mottinger was third at 37.0. Alexandria’s Hannah Wendel placed first all-around at 37.575.
Haley Mottinger placed first in the vault and floor exercise and Thompson placed second to Wendel on the beam and she was third behind Mottinger and Wendel on the floor.
The Cardinals’ Morgan Hamstad placed second on the vault.
The Cardinals’ Bronwyn Tollefson led on the team’s first event, the floor exercise, and scored a career-best 9.30 to set the team’s tone for the day. The Cards finished 37.775 on the floor and then scored 37.875 on the vault, Jodi Mottinger said.
“The energy from hitting those two events really carried them through the rest of the meet,” she said, noting that the team hit on 17 of 20 events. “As a team, they performed really well and this was a big confidence booster going into (the Section 6A meet on Saturday at New London-Spicer.)”
Thompson was the CLC’s season champion on the beam and Haley Mottinger was the CLC performer on vault.
Thompson was All-CLC on the beam, floor and all-around and Mottinger was all-conference in the vault, floor and all-around and she was Honorable Mention on beam and bars.
Kendall Hein, who was seventh all-around on Saturday, was all-conference in the vaults, bars, beam and all-around, and Hamstad was all-conference on the vault.
The Section 6A meet begins at 1 p.m. at NLS High School.
Central Lakes Conference Championships
TEAM SCORES - (1) Willmar 146.60 (2) St. Cloud Tech 146.30 (3) Sartell 142.925 (4) Brainerd 140.475 (5) Alexandria 134.625 (6) Fergus Falls 133.375 (7) Sauk Rapids 123.50 (8) St. Cloud Apollo 100.20
ALL-AROUND - (1) Hannan Wendel, Alex, 37.575 (2) Stephanie Thompson, Wil, 37.10 (3) Haley Mottinger, Wil, 37.0 … Willmar (7) Kendall Hein 36.525
VAULT - (1) Haley Mottinger, Wil, 9.70 (2) Morgan Hamstad, Wil, 9.675 (3) Millie Klefsaas, Brn, 9.65 … Willmar: (8) Kendall Hein 9.325 (15) Stephanie Thompson 9.175 (16) Presleigh Schrupp 9.65
BARS - (1) Lara Aycock, SCT, 9.50 (2) Margaux Schmid, SCT, 9.375 (3) Hannah Wendel, Alex, 9.25 … Willmar: (6) Hein 9.15 (10) Thompson 9.05 (13) Mottinger 8.95 (19) Alexis Miley 8.45 (21) Hamstad 8.25
BEAM - (1) Wendel, Alex, 9.525 (2) Thompson, Wil, 9.35 (3) Eden Garman, Sar, 9.30 … Willmar: (9) Hein 8.80 (11) Mottinger 8.70 (16) Miley 8.50 (18) Bronwyn Tollefson 8.275
FLOOR - (1) Mottinger, Wil, 9.65 (2) Wendel, Alex, 9.60 (3) Thompson, Wil, 9.525 … Willmar: (12) tie, Miley and Tollefson 9.30 (14) Hein 9.25
