Annandale High School junior Jenna Woelfel is headed back to the State Girls Gymnastics Meet for the fourth time in as many years. But teammate Sarah Zieska isn’t after strong performances in two events at the Section 5A tournament last week came painfully close but didn’t qualify. For the second year in a row the Cardinals finished second behind section champion Mound-Westonka in the nine-school competition Friday, Feb. 20, at Maple Lake High School. The White Hawks captured the team event with a score of 143.625 to Annandale’s 139.025 and dominated the individual slots. Mound-Westonka will compete as a team at the state Class A meet beginning Thursday, Feb. 26, at the University of Minnesota Sports Pavilion. Woelfel and others who placed in the top four for each event will compete as individuals on Friday, Feb. 27. She finished second in the vault and uneven bars, third in the floor exercise and fourth in the all-around. A rare fall from the balance beam kept her from qualifying in that event, where she placed 12th. "It’s an uncharacteristic thing for Jenna to fall on the beam," coach Nicole Green said. Woelfel also qualified in four events last year, then at state won a fifth-place medal in the vault and a sixth-place medal in the uneven bars while finishing seventh, just out of the medals, in the all-around. Green and some of Woelfel’s teammates will attend the state meet, where some of the girls will work as score flashers. Zieska, a junior, finished sixth in the floor exercise five-hundreths of a point behind two girls who tied for fourth. She placed fifth in the balance beam, two-tenths of a point out of fourth, and sixth in the all-around. All three performances won her a section medal, but not a shot at state competition. "I’m bummed," Green said, "because Sarah had a great floor routine." It was "painfully close," she said. She had also thought Zieska had qualified for the balance beam. Green praised sophomore Danielle Peery, who performed with a bad ankle, for her "mental toughness." Peery took ninth in the vault, eighth in the balance beam and 17th in the uneven bars. "If she would have been healthy she could have been a qualifier in vault," Green said. The other individual qualifiers were Dayna Pitts, Kelsey Piepkorn and Danni Schneider of Mound-Westonka and Courtney Couette of Maple Lake. Annandale edged Delano by about two points for second, and Green said it was the Cardinals’ floor performance that pulled it out. The team score of 36.425 set a school record, breaking the 35.925 mark. Sophomores Zoe Holthaus and Hailey Werner and freshman Danielle Leinonen all scored personal bests, she said. Though she’d love to be first, Green said she was happy with how Annandale did and with second place. "We pushed (Mound). I think we made them a little nervous." she said. "Our team and our gymnastics were better this year than it was last year. Mound was good but we stepped up ourselves. "Annandale was a stronger team this year and they’re going to be back," Green said. "We’re going to be a lot stronger (next year) than we are this year." The Cardinals won an academic achievement award for having a team grade point average of 3.6. Annandale assistants Katie Logeais and Russ Green were named Assistant Coaches of the Year. Results Team scores – 1. Mound-Westonka, 143.625; 2. Annandale, 139.025; 3. Delano, 136.8; 4. Maple Lake, 134.075; 5. Watertown-Mayer, 126.925; 6. Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted, 125; 7. Orono, 124.475; 8. Dassel-Cokato, 123.5; 9. Rockford, 119.05.
Individual scores Vault – 1. Dayna Pitts (M-W), 9.65; 2. Jenna Woelfel (A), 9.55; 3. Kelsey Piepkorn (M-W), 9.5; 4. Danni Schneider (M-W), 9.375; 7. Sarah Zieska (A), 8.8; 9. Danielle Peery (A), 8.675; 25. Kelly Mendel (A), 8.325; 28 Channing Skluzacek (A), 8.275 Uneven bars – 1. Piepkorn (M-W), 9.45; 2. Woelfel (A), 9.075; 3. Schneider (M-W), 8.975; 10. Zieska (A), 8.3; 12. Kelsie Hogie (A), 8.2; 15. Skluzacek (A) 8.175; 17. Peery (A), 8.15 Balance beam – 1. Pitts (M-W), 9.1; 2. Schneider (M-W), 9.05; 3. Courtney Couette (ML), 9.025; 4. Piepkorn (M-W), 9.025; 5. Zieska (A), 8.825; 8. Peery (A), 8.5; 12. Woelfel (A), 8.25; 17. Hogie (A), 7.925; 22. Skluzacek (A), 7.425 Floor exercise – 1. Pitts (M-W), 9.55; 2. Schneider (M-W), 9.5; 3. Woelfel (A), 9.5; 4. Couette (ML), and Piepkorn (M-W), 9.275 (tie); 6. Zieska (A), 9.225; 13. Zoe Holthaus (A), 8.85; 14. Hailey Werner (A), 8.85; 15. Danielle Leinonen (A), 8.85 All-around – 1. Piepkorn (M-W), 37.25; 2. Pitts (M-W), 37.1; 3. Schneider (M-W), 36.9; 4. Woelfel (A), 36.375; 6. Zieska (A), 35.15