Lind, Jays look for top 5

Alex Lind wasn’t afraid to get back on the uneven parallel bars after a nasty fall that sidelined her for the second half of her freshman season.

The Jamestown High School senior recalls sitting out as the most frustrating part.

“It (was terrible) having to sit out and watch,” Lind said. “I’ve been thankful to not be hurt ever since then. Hopefully, I can finish out this week. Then, I’ll be done.”

It’s been a standout career for Lind, who coach Dave Tews said didn’t fare as well as a freshman after a strong eighth-grade performance. The fall had everything to do with it, he said, though she was able to come back for regionals and state, albeit not in top form.

“She was barely able to come back from that, and you can tell by her places at state,” Tews said. “That was her down year.”

It’s not an easy subject to talk about for Tews, who partly shudders when he thinks about what he saw on that day.

“She was doing a double-back dismount and you flip twice going away from the bar,” Tews said. “She held onto the bar a little too long. The bars are 8 feet high and she was above the bar rotating backwards about a million miles an hour. She slammed her head into the bars. Her knee came into her face, she had broken bones, a concussion — all kinds of things.

“I get the shakes still when I get her up on the bars sometimes, and I find myself over-spotting sometimes. … You don’t want her to have a flashback at some time, but that was a nasty one. When you’ve got to haul a kid out to an ambulance unconscious, that’s not good. But she came back tough.”

Tews said if a similar accident had happened this year, Lind may not have been able to come back with the recent understanding of concussions and the long-term brain damage they can cause.

“I don’t think she would have competed,” he said. “She came back and competed, but that definitely slowed her up.”

But she bounced back as a sophomore, finishing second on the floor exercise. She also took second last year and finished third in the all-around.

Still, Tews said bars is her best event, even if she’s hesitant about doing the most daring routines.

“She’s backed off a little bit, because of some warranted fears by her coach and the kid,” Tews said. “But definitely, if there were ever a natural in an event, it would be her on bars.”

Lind said she’s shooting for a top-five finish in every event, and the Blue Jays may need that if they want to finish in the top five. Tews said it’s as deep as he’s ever seen it in his 34 years in the program, the last 32 as head coach.

“I think we could have the meet of the year and could end up struggling to get in the top five,” he said. “We’re seeing a lot of competition this year. We had five teams above 139 (at WDA) last week, and we had a 143 and 138 in the east. My gosh, this is the highest top six scores I can remember in all my years.”

The Blue Jays will need to perform well on bars if they hope to pass other teams, Tews said.

“Bars would be No. 1 where we struggle,” Tews said. “We’ve got to do the best we can there. I would say floor would be second if we’re gonna pick up some points.”

Sun sports writer Chris Aarhus can be reached at (701) 952-8462 or by email at caarhus@jamestownsun.com

Tags: sports, jays, gymnastics