Gymnastics: Lorencz vaults to second

• Photo: Gymnastics

Farmington junior Nadia Lorencz placed second in the the vault at the Class 2A State Gymnastics Meet Saturday at the University of Minnesota Sports Pavilion.

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Those who reminisce about the ‘90s may remember a No Fear t-shirt that proclaimed second place to be the “first loser.”

Nadia Lorencz doesn’t look at it that way, even though she’s made a habit of placing second on the biggest of prep stages over the last year. She narrowly missed state titles in the 100 hurdles and the long jump at the Class 2A State track meet last spring, and most recently she earned runner-up honors in the vault at last Saturday’s Class 2A State gymnastics meet at the University of Minnesota Sports Pavilion. The Farmington junior doesn’t think of all the runner-up finishes as missed opportunities — her state vault score of 9.8 was a personal best and a school record — but she is already looking ahead at other chances to break the Silver streak this spring.

“It’s becoming pretty normal to get second, I guess. I want to break (the trend)?this year in track,” Lorencz said. “Last year I know I was supposed to win the long jump at state and I didn’t have my best meet. The girl who won was a senior, so she won’t be there this year. I’m hoping I can win that.”

The winner of Saturday’s vault was also a senior, Leah Robinette of East Ridge. Robinette scored a 9.825 to finish twenty-five thousandths of a point ahead of Lorencz.

“The vault went great,” Lorencz said. “I was really pumped up and had a lot of adrenaline and ran really hard into it. The judges look for height and how you come onto the vault. I got really high and only got a deduction for a small step when I landed.”

Lorencz improved eight spots from last year when she finished 10th with a score of 9.6. She said the previous experience was a big advantage going into the meet.

“I definitely felt more prepared after going last year and seeing what the competition was like,” she said. “I knew more what to expect and I wasn’t as nervous. I just wanted to go out and have fun.”

The vault was just the start of the fun. Lorencz added an 11th-place score of 9.525 in her second favorite event, the floor exercise, and she added an 8.85 in the uneven bars and an 8.275 in the balance beam to place 19th in the all-around with a score of 36.45.

Despite all the success, Lorencz is still undecided as to whether she will compete in gymnastics next winter. She is considering spending the time running indoor track, lifting weights and going to clinics to better prepare for the spring track season.

“I really want to do track in college, so I don’t know. Indoor track would prepare me better for next spring. It all depends on how track goes this spring,” she said. “I know I need to jump farther (in the long jump) to get a scholarship. I just have to keep working hard.”

Tags: sports, farmington, prep, tigers, gymnastics