Red Wing gymnasts take risks in loss

Red Wing coach Beth Mayer said she's happy her gymnasts are taking extra risks and putting in tougher skills — even if it isn't resulting in higher scores quite yet.

The Wingers suffered a Missota Conference loss to Farmington Tuesday night by a score of 133.15 to 123.4275.

"We added some skills on floor and are starting to add some skills on bars," Mayer said. "We're at a point where our meets are really close together and we don't have much time to get the extra reps in.

"I'm glad they are willing to put those newer skills in. We need to put them in now to up the value of our routines."

Mayer says the goal will be that the gymnasts will "refine as the season progresses."

The Wingers had just three finishes in the top five against the Tigers Tuesday.

Kassidy Coplan took second place on the balance beam with a season-best score of 8.2. She also took third place in all-around competition with a season-best score of 31.675. Teammate Kirsten Bluhm took third place on vault with a season-best score of 8.55.

Other season-best finishes came from Molly Hart (6.725) and Karina Buczko (6.79) on the uneven bars and Bluhm (8.05) on the floor exercises.

The Wingers saw a little bit tougher judging than their previous meet in Wisconsin.

Red Wing travels to Northfield Thursday for a 6:30 p.m. meet.

Tags: red wing, sports, gymnastics, wingers