Huskies win MGJA Invitational
Owatonna gymnast Averie Roush flips backward onto the balance beam during her routine at the MGJA Invitational in Farmington last weekend. Roush was Owatonna’s top individual gymnast with a competition score of 35.900. Staff photo by Johnnie Phillips
Owatonna gymnastics won the Minnesota Gymnastics Judges Association (MGJA) Invitational with a team score of 142.550 last weekend, beating out a field of 15 schools for the title.
The Huskies needed to be perfect when it mattered as the team won by a mere .300 points. The win came down to the team’s final event on the uneven bars to edge Anoka 142.550-142.250.
“Going into the bars I knew a 34 – or an 8.500 average from each athlete – would get it done for us. We had a great start with Chloe Myer scoring an 8.550, and then Averie Roush and Jozie Johnson scoring 8.700s. Emma Johnson took a fall but finished really well to score a 7.900, and when it came down to Delia Neumann, I knew we had won the moment I saw her stick the landing. It was a great team effort,” said Moe.
While the bars were where the Huskies went on to win the meet, they were actually the team’s lowest score across the four events at 34.350.
Instead, the Huskies started the day with a 35.750 team score on the beam, which Moe credited as being a huge reason for his team’s success.
“Any time that you come in and have a good beam, you’re going to feed off of that no matter what.”
Just as Moe predicted, his team turned up the heat shortly afterward and exploded toward the top of the scoreboards after two high-scoring performances on the floor and vault.
On the floor, Owatonna continued its fast start by scoring a 36.100 across four routines from Roush, Emma Johnson, Kendra Miller, and Kaitlyn Cobban.
Roush was the team’s highest-point gymnast on the floor with a season-best score of 9.350.
Immediately following the floor, Owatonna managed to notch another 36-point performance, this time scoring a 36.350 on the vault.
Jozie Johnson’s score of 9.450 was the team high.
Rounding out the group were Roush and Johanna Spielman with a pair of 9.050s to go with Miller’s 8.800 performance.
Roush was also the team’s highest-scoring individual gymnast at the meet, placing fifth with a score of 35.900.
The mark also earned her a season-best individual score.
Owatonna will look to add to its winning ways when the team travels to the Faribault Gymnastics Club to face the Falcons on Friday, Jan. 13 at 6:30 p.m.