The Annandale gymnastics squad finished seventh at the Section 5A meet last weekend, out of the running for advancement to State competition, but they didn’t come home empty-handed. The Cardinals won the section academic award and they’ll be judged against other section winners of that distinction. And first-year Annandale coach Nicole Green was one of two coaches voted Section 5A Coach of the Year. The Cardinals compiled 128.875 points in the 11-school meet Saturday, Feb. 21, at Monticello Middle School. Monticello won the championship with 143.475 points. The top team and first four athletes in each event advance to the State Gymnastics Meet on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 27 and 28, at the Roy Wilkins Arena in St. Paul. The Cardinals were up against some tough competition since four of the teams were ranked in the state’s top 10. “I am very proud of the girls’ performances,” Green said. “We wanted to be in the top half, and we were very close. If (senior co-captain Lindsey) Lumley would have been well, our goal of fifth would have happened. “Still, I am impressed with our end result and I see great things for the Cardinals in the years to come.” Team leader Lumley was sidelined for the rest of the season when she sprained her right ankle in a meet against Maple Lake two weeks ago. Sophomore Hannah Zieska turned in the Cardinals’ top performance of the section meet with a 10th place finish on the balance beam. Annandale’s seventh place matched the Cardinals’ section finish of a year ago. Big Lake finished second with 142.075 points followed by Becker in third with 137.700 points. St. Michael-Albertville placed fourth with 137.650, Sartell-St. Stephen was fifth with 132.725, Sauk Rapids-Rice was sixth with 131.500, Princeton was eighth with 126.725, Maple Lake and Dassel-Cokato tied for ninth with 123.675 and Howard Lake -Waverly was 11th with 88.600. The Annandale team’s top 10 students averaged 91 percent to take the academic award. They’ll be ranked against the winners in seven other sections and the top team academically will be announced at the State meet. Green said Lumley and AHS senior Jennie Planer will sing the National Anthem before the individual finals competition at the State meet Saturday at 6 p.m. Green and Becker coach Jan Harmoning tied in a vote of the 11 section coaches for Coach of the Year. Annandale finished the season with a 6-4 overall record. The Cardinals were fifth in the Wright County Conference with a 3-4 record. The team will lose Lumley, Lindsey Holl and Heather Zieska, all co-captains this year, to graduation. Green said she’s “very excited about seasons to come” because of the amount of potential. Annandale needs a feeder program to get more girls into gymnastics, she said, and a good way to do that would be through a community center. An Annandale Area Community Team committee is discussing the possibility of building a community center. Goals for future seasons are to be a top competitive team and to qualify for State individually and as a team, Green said. The Cardinals lost to WCC leader Delano 142.875-129.725 in their final regular season contest on Tuesday, Feb. 17, at home. Green praised “the beam team” for “sticking” four of five routines on the balance beam. Junior Laura Craft finished fifth on the beam and floor exercise and recorded her personal best all-around score. The junior varsity also lost to the Delano JV squad, 111.9-100.7. The gymnastics banquet will be held at 6 p.m. Tuesday, March 9, in the Annandale High School Commons for junior high, junior varsity and varsity. Annandale scores at the Section 5A meet: Vault – Amanda Horsch, 8.65; Laura Craft and Liz Masanz, 8.1; Hannah Zieska, 7.9; Heather Zieska, 7.45 Uneven bars – Craft, 7.85; Horsch, 7.45; Lara Karg, 7.4; Hannah Zieska, 7.3; Lindsey Holl, 6.925 Balance beam – Hannah Zieska, 8.4; Holl, 8.325; Craft, 8.3; Horsch, 8.050; Heather Zieska, 7.5 Floor exercise – Craft, 8.65; Horsch, 8.25; Hannah Zieska, 8.2; Holl, 7.9; Heather Zieska, 7.525 All-around – Craft, 32.9; Horsch, 32.4; Hannah Zieska, 31.8 Annandale results against Delano: Vault – Amanda Horsch, 8.4; Laura Craft, 8.25; Hannah Zieska, 8.0; Liz Masanz, 7.75; Heather Zieska, 7.65 Uneven bars – Craft, 7.9; Lindsey Holl, 7.65; Horsch, 7.525; Hannah Zieska, 7.45; Lara Karg, 7.2 Balance beam – 5. Craft, 8.45; Holl and Heather Zieska, 8.3; Hannah Zieska, 8.15; Horsch, 6.9 Floor exercise – 5. Craft, 8.775; Horsch, 8.525; Hannah Zieska, 8.3; Heather Zieska, 8.0; Holl 7.9 All-Around – Craft, 33.375; Hannah Zieska, 31.9; Horsch, 31.35.
