By Chad Koenen

Publisher

The Detroit Lakes gymnastics team took fifth place at the Clemensen Invitational at Princeton on January 6. The Lakers finished with a team score of 133.25.

While the Lakers deal with a few injuries the team utilized a number of JV athletes to fill out the squad and gain some valuable varsity experience. Just the varsity team members competed in the bars and beam, while the JV filled out the roster in the other events. 

In vault, Hayden Laux took 33rd place with a score of 8.2, Izzy Hansen took 34th place with a score of 8.2 and Shayne Dahlen took 35th place with a score of 8.2.

In the bars, Kate Taves took sixth place with a score of 8.55, while Addy Laux took seventh place with a score of 8.5. Elsie Ratz just missed out on a top 10 finish as she took 11th place with a score of 8.2, just .05 back of Avery McAllister from Perham who took 10th place. Ava Morrison also competed in the bars and took 28th place with a score of 7.05.

Ratz continued her strong season on the beam as the senior took fourth place in the beam with a score of 9.25. She finished just .05 behind Libby Nielsen of North Branch for third place. Taves took eighth place with a score of 8.8, Laux took 25th place with a score of 8.2 ans Kaija Aschewitz took 29th place with a score of 8.

In the final event of the day, Maren Skadsem led the charge for the Lakers with a score of 8.5 in the floor. She finished in 20th place. Aschewitz took 22th place with a score of 8.4, Shelby Lyman took 27th place with a score of 8.3 and Shayne Dahlen took 30th place with a score of 8.15. 

Hopkins won the meet with a score of 140.65, while Perham was second with a score of 139.9 and North Branch was third with a score of 138.25. White Bear Lake took fourth place with a score of 135.