Blue Jays open with victory

The Jamestown High School gymnastics team got off to a fast start Thursday in South Dakota.

Led by all-around winner Kaitlin Walsh, the Blue Jays easily outscored Aberdeen 136.950-128.150 to open the season with a dual win.

“Overall, it was a really good start,” said coach Dave Tews. “We’re very proud of the way the kids competed. They did a nice job today.”

Walsh led the Blue Jays, winning the floor exercise (9.350), tying for the top spot on the bars (8.300) and blowing away the field with her final total of 35.200 in the all around. Aberdeen’s top gymnast — Adrianne Skaggs — was second at 34.450. The Blue Jays had three of the top four all-around scores.

“That was an absolutely awesome start for Kaitlin. Everything came together for her,” Tews said. “She did very well.”

Nikki Iverson finished third in the all around with a score of 33.900, highlighted by her win on the beam with a score of 8.9. Walsh was second (8.650). Brittany Mittleider was fourth (8.500). Iverson added a second on the floor (8.9).

Alex Lind posted a score of 33.300, good for fourth overall, despite a fall on the vault and was spotted on the bars. The eighth-grader finished 15th in the all around at the state meet last year.

Walsh and eighth-grader Abby Wanzek tied for second on the vault with identical 8.9s.

They struggled some on the bars, the first apparatus of the meet, but still had four of the top five scores, with Walsh tying with Skaggs for the top spot with 8.3s. Lind, Iverson and Jennifer Kropp placed 3-4-5 as the Blue Jays had at least three of the top five scores in every event.

“It was a really good way to start,” Tews said. “Our JV team had some really nice performances as well. Our depth really showed up in a good way today.”

The Blue Jays will see Aberdeen again on Thursday in their first home meet of the year when they host the Tri-State Classic. Detroit Lakes (Minn.) will round out the three-team meet, beginning at 5 p.m. at the Jamestown Gymnastics Club.

“Detroit Lakes has a very strong team. It should be an interesting meet,” Tews said.

Team results

Jamestown 136.950, Aberdeen 128.150, Warner 27.850.

Individual results

(Top 5 and JHS results)

Beam: 1, Nikki Iverson, JHS, 8.900; 2, Kaitlin Walsh, JHS, 8.650; 3, Jordan Swanson, Aberdeen, 8.600; 4, Brittany Mittleider, JHS, 8.500; 5, Adrianne Skaggs, Aberdeen, 8.450.

Other JHS results

T7, Alex Lind, 8.300; T7, Jennifer Kropp, 8.300; 9, Mercedes Westereng, 7.800; 10, Brooke Lukach, 7.450; 12, Caroline Hemmer, 6.450.

Vault: 1, Skaggs, Aberdeen, 9.0; 2, Walsh, JHS, 8.900; T2, Abby Wanzek, JHS, 8.900; T4, Swanson, Aberdeen, 8.800; T4, Lukach, JHS, 8.800; 5, Heidi Engels, JHS, 8.700.

Other JHS results

6, Kropp, 8.600; 7, Westereng, 8.500; 9, Mittleider, 8.400; 10, Lind, 8.300; 11, Iverson, 8.200.

Bars: T1, Walsh, JHS, 8.300; T1, Skaggs, Aberdeen, 8.300; 3, Lind, JHS, 8.050; 4, Iverson, JHS, 7.900; 5, Kropp, JHS, 7.800.

Other JHS results

6, Lukach, 7.750; 7, Westereng, 7.700; 9, Abby Wanzek, 7.550; 10, Engels, 7.400.

Floor exercise: 1, Walsh, JHS, 9.350; 2, Iverson, JHS, 8.900; 3, Swanson, Aberdeen, 8.800; 4, Lukach, JHS, 8.750; 5, Skaggs, Aberdeen, 8.700.

Other JHS results

T6, Lind, 8.650; T6, Westereng, 8.650; 8, Mittleider, 8.600; 11, Kropp, 7.750.

All around: 1, Walsh, JHS, 35.200; 2, Skaggs, Aberdeen, 34.450; 3, Iverson, JHS, 33.900; 4, Lind, JHS, 33.300; 5, Swanson, Aberdeen, 33.200.

Other JHS results

6, Lukach, 32.750; 7, Westereng, 32.650.

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

Tags: gymnastics, jhs, bluejays, aberdeen