Crowded field for third: JHS, BHS, Century all could make a claim

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The difference between finishing third and fifth at the state gymnastics will likely come down to a fall here or a stuck routine there.

Jamestown High School, Bismarck and Bismarck Century are that close.

The Blue Jays earned a third-place finish at the team portion of the state meet last year in Jamestown. Doing so Friday in Dickinson figures to take a score in the 143 area, which the Blue Jay have done this season, but will not be easy.

“We’ve done it. We know the girls have it in them,” said coach Dave Tews. “It wasn’t given to us. We earned it, but we also know we have to be a little sharper (Friday) than we were Saturday.”

The Blue Jays placed fourth at the West Region meet here Feb. 17 with a solid 142.550, but the Demons easily cleared 144 and Century also is capable of scoring well.

“We could perform well and end up fifth, but we also could get up to third, but that will take a really good effort,” Tews said. “It should be interesting to see how it all plays out.”

Minot and Dickinson will place 1-2 barring something crazy, but the next three spots are up for grabs.

“Our goal obviously is third. That would be a real nice accomplishment. We’ll just have to see what happens,” Tews said.

The Blue Jays have 10 girls qualified for the individual portion of the meet on Saturday. Five are entered in the all around topped by junior Alex Lind, who carries the No. 3 overall seed with a 37.942 average. Only defending state champion Acacia Fossum (38.433) of Dickinson and Bismarck’s MacKenzie Keidel (37.867) have higher averages.

Lind is ranked in the top 10 in three of the four events, including No. 2 on the floor (9.717). Teammate Mercedes Westereng, a senior, is ranked sixth on floor. She’s also 10th in the all around (36.533).

Eighth-grader Erin Hillerud and seniors Carly Nelson and Ashley Kronebusch are also qualified in the all around.

“You’d like to see kids hold their seeds and possibly have a good day and move up,” Tews said. “That would be a bonus, but we definitely have girls that are capable of doing that.”

The top 15 finishers in each event place. The coaches vote on the all-state team.

Sophomores Kaiann Arellano and Abbie Conlon, freshmen Jayden Diemert and Jenna Stilwell, plus seventh-grader Madison Mandan are also qualified in at least one event. Alison Allmer will compete in the team competition on Friday.

“You hope you can maintain where we’ve been at and then hopefully we can pick up 8 10ths of a point here or a half a point there,” Tews said. “We’ve had a pretty good season so hopefully the girls go out and compete like they have and we’ll see where that puts us.”

Jamestown High School Gymnastics

State meet qualifiers

(Top 30 all-around scores and top 40 in events qualify for state meet. Scores are averages.)

All around

3, Alex Lind, 37.492; 10, Mercedes Westereng, 10, 36.533; 20, Erin Hillerud, 34.85; 25, Carly Nelson, 34.175; 27, Ashley Kronebusch, 33.983.

Beam

11, Westereng, 9.367; 12, Lind, 9.292; 13, Nelson, 9.233; 22, Hillerud, 8.775; 30, Kronebusch, 8.533; 32, Abbie Conlon, 8.517; 40, Kaiann Arellano, 8.3.

Floor

2, Lind, 9.717; 6, Westereng, 9.533; 14, Nelson, 9.258; 18, Kronebusch, 9.117; 19, Hillerud, 9.1; 40, Madison Mandan, 8.617.

Bars

5. Lind, 9.525; 12, Westereng, 8.958; 28, Conlon, 8.3; 29, Hillerud, 8.275; 32, Jayden Diemert, 8.192; 34, Kronebusch, 8.142; 35, Jenna Stilwell, 8.108; 40, Arellano, 8.042.

Vault

8, Lind, 9.333; 12, Westereng, 9.217; 18, Stilwell, 9.1; 20, Kronebusch, 9.083; 26, Hillerud, 9.017; 32, Nelson, 8.883; 39, Arellano, 8.775.

Sun sports editor Dave Selvig can be reached at (701) 952-8460 or by e-mail at daves@jamestownsun.com