East Ridge sends three to State

• Leah Robinette

East Ridge junior Leah Robinette led the way for the Raptors, finishing as the Section 1A champion in the all-around competition after taking first place in three of the four events — the floor exercise, the uneven bars and the vault. Bulletin photo by Patrick Johnson.

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Led by three state qualifying gymnasts, the first-year East Ridge gymnastics team finished just shy of an appearance at State, placing second at the Section 1A championship meet with a score of 141.65 on Saturday, Feb. 20 at Stewartville High School, behind Austin’s meet-winning 142.35 score.

Individually, however, East Ridge is sending three gymnasts — junior Leah Robinette and eighth-graders Keliana Thompson and Kelly McKenzie — to the state meet, which will be held Feb. 26 and 27 at the University of Minnesota.

At the section meet, the top four finishers in each event qualify for State along with the first place team.

Robinette led the way for the Raptors at the meet, finishing as the Section 1A champion in the all-around competition after taking first place in three of the four events — the floor exercise, the uneven bars and the vault.

Robinette, who scored a season-high 37.475 in the all-around, had season-high scores of 9.675 in the floor exercise and in the vault and a score of 9.425 on the bars to take the top spot in the events.

In addition to Robinette, who is in her first year of high school gymnastics after competing at the club level in the past, East Ridge’s Thompson finished fourth on the bars with a score of 8.7 and McKenzie took fourth in the vault with a score of 9.125 to earn their first trips to State.

The only event East Ridge didn’t qualify for State in was the beam, where Robinette turned in the Raptors’ top result, with a sixth-place 8.7 score.

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