Gymnastics: Tigers have some fun

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Coming home with a victory isn’t typically in the cards for any of the Missota Conference gymnastics teams when they make their annual trip to Northfield.

Instead, Farmington made it their goal to relax and have fun. The strategy seemed to pay off as the Tigers turned in their best team score of the young season in a 142.35-131.90 loss to the perennial state contenders.

“We’re on our way back. The girls are really pulling themselves together. Fun, fun, fun, that’s what it’s all about. We need to keep it fun,” Farmington coach Lynn Bauman said. “That seemed to relax the girls and it helped them perform well.”

It also helped to have returning varsity letter-winners Tahra Eckert and Kylie Wharton back in the lineup after both missed time with injuries. Eckert placed third in the vault with a score of 9.275 and fourth in the floor exercise with an 8.8, while Wharton took fifth in the bars with an 8.25.

Kiana Lord once again led the Tigers in all four events and the all-around. Her best performance came in the vault, where she scored a 9.35 to earn second place. Lord was also fourth in the bars (8.5), fourth in the beam (8.625) and third in the floor exercise (8.975). Her all-around total of 35.475 was good enough for fourth place.

Kathryn Beckett added a fourth-place score of 9.05 in the vault.

Northfield also won the JV portion of the meet, 127.45-121.7.

Tori Sontag and Kendall Novak supplied Farmington’s top performers, each earning a second-place finish. Sontag was runner-up in the vault with a score of 8.75 and Novak was second in the bars with a 7.4.

Rachel Kiminski was third in the bars with a 7.2 and Racquel Beckett was fourth in both the bars and the floor exercise.

Amanda Ruth (beam) and Kaitlyn Besler (vault) also earned fourth-place finishes.

The Tigers are back in action Dec. 27 at Rosemount.

Tags: high school, sports, farmington, tigers, prep, gymnastics