Sam Ardy led the Gusties on the bars with a first place finish. (photo by Roisen Granlund, Gustavus Sports Information)
COMPLETE RESULTS | PHOTO GALLERY
ST. PETER, Minn. – The Gustavus gymnastics team competed in its final home dual meet of the season at Sponberg Gymnastics Studio on Friday night, coming away with a 183.875-181.950 loss to UW-Eau Claire. The loss drops the Gusties to 2-5 in WIAC duals, while the Blugolds improve to 3-0.
Gustavus posted team scores of 46.225 on vault, 45.900 on floor, 45.375 on bars, and 44.450 on beam. The Gusties’ bars score marks a season high.
“What a big day it was for the Gusties, most importantly for our seniors,” Head Coach Aryn Bell said. “Overall it was a good meet. Bars were huge tonight. Getting over 45 was a goal of the team all season and it was great to get there. We had four gymnasts over nine. That’s big for us moving forward.”
The bars lineup was led by Sam Ardy (Fy., Thousand Oaks, Calif.) with a season-high 9.500, taking first place. Alex Kopp (Jr., Wayzata, Minn.) followed in second with a 9.425, a career-high. Emily Anderson (So., Mendota Heights, Minn.) and Amanda Malo (Fy., Greenwood, Minn.) scored season-highs of 9.075 and 9.025, respectively.
The vault was paced by Kopp, taking second place with a 9.425, while Malo took third at 9.350. Floor was also led by Kopp at 9.600, taking first place. Malo and Jaimie Niedermayer (Jr., New Prauge, Minn.) were next in line for the Gusties with scores of 9.275 and 9.225, respectively.
Rachel Thiner posted a 9.3 on the beam. (photo by Roisen Granlund)
“Vault was good tonight, it’s a very solid event for us,” Bell said. “Floor was consistent with the way to gone this season.”
The Gusties top three on the beam placed third through fifth. Malo scored 9.450, Kopp tallied a 9.350, and Rachel Thiner (Sr., Sioux Falls, S.D.) posted a 9.300.
“There were bright spots on beam and other struggles,” Bell said. “That’s always a tough event. Rachel had a big night on senior night to go out on a high note. Amanda Malo had a huge routine, it was beautiful to watch. Alex is consistently scoring in the mid-nines on beam now which is a huge plus for us. Her consistency showed tonight in being able to overcome a couple weird wobbles and still getting the score the team needed.”
Kopp had another career night as she posted a personal best 37.800 in the all-around, which is tied for the fourth highest all-around score in program history. Malo was close behind with a season-high 37.100 as the only other all-around gymnast.
“Individually, Alex and Amanda had career nights in the all-around,” Bell said. “That was great to see Amanda over the 37 mark. Emily Anderson had another great meet. She’s consistently one of our top performers and her hard work is certainly paying off. Sam had a huge bar routine to capture another event title.
“It was a great meet to end the season on at home. Now we look to make improvements and end the regular season at the Best of Minnesota.”
Gustavus returns to the gym next Saturday at the Best of Minnesota Invite, hosted by the University of Minnesota.
Congratulations Gustie Gymnasts. It sure has been fun watching all of you having a lot of success this year. Congratulations Rachel and Rachel on your careers. Good luck next weekend.