Warrior gymnasts come through on floor exercise

Like the main event of a concert or the finale of the Fourth of July fireworks presentation, the floor exercise event at a Brainerd Warriors gymnastics meet is the pinnacle.

The competition to be one of the final five Warriors to perform is demanding. On Tuesday, members of the Sauk Rapids Storm saw first hand the grace and power displayed by those final five.

Thanks to a 36.775 combined floor score, Brainerd out-performed the Storm on its way to a 142.7 to 129.8 Central Lakes Conference victory.

The Storm, suffering from low numbers couldn't match Brainerd's floor, which grabbed the top two spots and five of the top six. Katie Perpich won the event with a 9.35 followed by Kathleen Lorenz at 9.325.

Not to be outdone were Maggie Freiday, who finished fourth with a 9.05. Tessa Helland scored a 9.05 for fifth and Lauren Deyo finished sixth with an 8.5.

"I would like to think there's good competition to get on the floor," said Warriors coach Dave Maras. "We've got some kids on junior varsity just waiting. Arianna Lofrano is right there challenging for a spot. That's a fun situation to have."

On Saturday at the Brainerd quadrangular, those five recorded a school-record 37.5. On Tuesday, while routines weren't perfect, Brainerd athletes showed off their power and enthusiasm for the grand conclusion.

"A lot of this starts with our younger programs," said Maras. "We've had great people in front of them. (Assistant coach) Colleen (Dols) does a great job of choreographing, the kids respond to it and they perform. They take a lot of pride in that.

"Floor is the first thing kids learn when they take up gymnastics and tumbling skills are fun."

For the second straight dual meet, Perpich won the all-around with a 36.975. Lorenz finished second at 36.075.

Perpich also won the vault with a 9.3 and uneven bars with a 9.225. Lorenz won the beam with a 9.350

"Kathleen had a nice beam routine," said Maras. "One foot hit the beam on the dismount, but still on the beam itself, she did a great job. That looked like Kathleen."

Brainerd 142.7, Sauk Rapids 129.8

Uneven parallel bars -- 1-Katie Perpich (B) 9.225, 2-Kathleen Lorenz (B) 8.55, 4-Kara Rutman (B) 8.45, 6-Tonya Redshaw (B) 8.15, 7-Lauren Trapp (B) 8.0

Balance beam -- 1-Lorenz (B) 9.35, 2-Tessa Helland (B) 9.1, 3- Perpich (B) 9.1, 5-Maggie Freiday (B) 7.95, 7-Jessica Lofrano (B) 7.55

Floor exercise -- 1-Perpich (B) 9.350, 2-Lorenz (B) 9.325, 4-Freiday (B) 9.05, 6-Helland (B) 9.05, 6-Lauren Deyo (B) 8.5

Vault -- 1-Perpich (B) 9.3, 2-Freiday (B) 9.0, 3-Deyo (B) 8.9, 4-Lorenz 8.850, 7-Trapp 8.6

All-around -- 1-Perpich (B) 36.975, 2-Lorenz (B) 36.075

Conference -- B 2-0. Overall -- B 2-0. Next meet -- Brainerd at St. Cloud Apollo 6:45 p.m. Friday.