Gymnastics: Valparaiso repeats in Viking Pairs Invite
By Dave Melton Post-Tribune correspondent January 5, 2013 6:18PM
Updated: February 7, 2013 6:50AM
VALPARAISO — Two days after posting an impressive team score of 110.2 in a dual meet against Crown Point, Valparaiso continued its early roll with a resounding victory at the Viking Pairs Invitational.
Just like last year’s meet, the Vikings swept the top three positions, winning with an overall team score of 33.
“Maybe it wasn’t a perfect meet, but we had some real good performances,” said Valparaiso coach Lorie Cook.
Three routines in particular stood out to Cook: Senior Morgan Algozine on beam (9.7), senior Emily Crosmer on floor (9.25) and sophomore Rushelle Miller on vault (9.4).
“I think I’ve been working up to that,” Miller said of her vault, new for this season.
For the second year in a row, Miller was part of the event’s first-place pairing. Matched with Algozine, Miller added a 9.15 on floor and Algozine added a 9.0 on bars for a total score of 37.25.
Said Algozine: “(Coach Cook) had has us working on routine after routine in the gym, so now it’s expected of us that we’re going to hit our routines.”
Fellow Vikings Hannah Erwin and Lia Milroy teamed up for a second-place score of 36.1, followed by the third-place score of 35.2 from Crosmer and Caroline Miller.
Following Valparaiso at the four-team meet was Elkhart Central in second place (11), Lake Central in third (6) and Plymouth in fourth (5).
For Lake Central, the meet served as a chance to introduce some freshmen to high school competition, according to coach Bryan Yancey.
“For some of them, it was their first meet ever,” said Yancey, who singled out freshman Megan Misirly as a standout performer. “I was really putting them on the spot and getting them ready to compete. We had some uncharacteristic falls on beam; I think the nerves got to them a bit, but I was mostly pleased.”
