The Alexandria gymnastics team had a solid showing at the Section 8AA meet at St. Cloud Tech on Saturday, led by a fourth place finish on the bars (9.025) from Izzy Kent and a tied-for-sixth finish on the vault (9.100) from Sara Eddy.
These placements earned Kent and Eddy a spot in their respective events in the Class AA State Tournament on Feb. 25 at 11 a.m. in the Roy Wilkins Auditorium in St. Paul.
"I'm so excited to have Sara and Izzy make it to the state tournament," Alexandria head coach Tayler Kaufman said. "We have one of the hardest sections in the state, so the fact that they made it to state is amazing. It's especially exciting to have Izzy make it in bars. Izzy has been faced with many injuries during her gymnastics career. Having Izzy end her career with a trip to the state tournament is so special. Izzy has never given up and has worked so hard. I'm really proud of her! I'm really proud of Sara too! Sara has been on varsity since she came out for the HS team in 8th grade. Sara has natural talent. At sections, Sara had a 9.1 vault score. Her personal best is a 9.4. I'm really excited to see how Sara performs at state."
Alexandria placed fifth as a team with 134.150 points. St. Cloud Tech won the team Section 8AA title with a team score of 145.700 on Saturday.
Along with those top six finishes by Kent and Eddy Alexandria also had additional top-25 finishes that helped the team place in the top five out of eight.
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Addison Twa nearly made state as well and saved her best for last this season as she posted a personal-best all-around score of 33.675 (11th) and eighth on the bars with a score of 8.750 (8th).
"Addison had a great bar routine," Kaufman said. "Addison has been working on a lot of new skills this season that haven't been perfected yet. Addi is a sophomore and has a lot of potential for the future. I'm really excited to see how she performs in the next couple of years. Even though Addi didn't make it to state, she is always the first one to be there for her teammates and will do anything to make them smile or laugh. Addi has displayed so much leadership on the team this year, and I'm looking forward to watching her continue to grow."
At the meet, Alexandria assistant coach Nichole Boyden was named the Section 8AA Assistant Coach of the Year.
Boyden and Kaufman helped coach Alexandria to a successful team season.
"I think that the girls grew the most on bars and beam this season," Kaufman said. "We lost a lot of girls last year who played a big role in those events. It was time for us to step up to the plate, and that's exactly what they did! I'm so proud of all of the girls. It was a really special year."
SECTION 8AA CHAMPIONSHIP -
TEAM SCORES - 1. St. Cloud Tech, 145.700; 2. Monticello, 140.625; 3. Brainerd, 138.825; 4. Sartell-St. Stephen, 136.700; 5. Alexandria, 134.150; 6. Bemidji, 134.000; 7. Sauk Rapids-Rice, 130.500; 8. Moorhead, 123.200
ALEXANDRIA INDIVIDUAL RESULTS -
ALL-AROUND - Addison Twa, 11th, 33.675; Sara Eddy, 23rd, 25.100; Dylan Witt, 25th, 24.500; Addison Fettig, 27th, 24.300; Izzy Kent, 36th, 17.425; Jamie Aldis, 8.700, 51st; Chloe Steele, 55th, 8.025; Savannah Auran, 56th, 7.975; Kiera Christensen, 58th, 7.875; Addison Gulbrandson, 59th, 7.825
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VAULT - Sara Eddy, T6th, 9.100; Addison Fettig, 14th, 8.900; Addison Twa, T22nd, 8.750; Jamie Aldis, 26th, 8.700; Dylan Witt, T29th, 8.550
BARS - Izzy Kent, 4th, 9.025; Addison Twa, 8th, 8.750; Kiera Christensen, 24th, 7.875; Addison Gulbrandson, 25th, 7.825; Dylan Witt, T32nd, 7.450
BEAM - Izzy Kent, 11th, 8.400; Addison Twa, 16th, 8.225; Savannah Auran, 22nd, 7.975; Sara Eddy, T24th, 7.700; Addison Fettig, 36th, 7.300
FLOOR - Dylan Witt, 22nd, 8.500; Sara Eddy, T28th, 8.300; Addison Fettig, 32nd, 8.100; Chloe Steele, 33rd, 8.025; Addison Twa, 34th, 7.950
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