DHS battles adversity, rolls to win

• Acacia Fossum

Press Photo by Royal McGregor Dickinson freshman Acacia Fossum, right, does a flip as she dismounts the balance beam as head coach Kent Van Ells keeps an eye on her Saturday afternoon during the Fern Pokorny gymnastics meet at the DHS gymnasium.

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Adversity is one capacity the Dickinson High gymnastics team has dealt with the entire season.

Injuries have been front and center of that adversity. But on Thursday morning, a different type of adversity fell upon the team.

Kevin Theurer, a 2011 Dickinson High graduate, sustained life-threatening injuries after his pickup truck rear-ended a semi three miles north of Dickinson on Thursday morning. He passed away Friday night.

Dickinson Trinity senior Chantal Urlacher, who called Theurer a good friend, said it was a tough walking into the DHS gymnasium Saturday for the Fern Pokorny Meet.

“I was not very confident going into this meet,” Urlacher said. “I had my mind set on many other things.”

After Urlacher stuck her first event, she said her mind was back on gymnastics, at least for the remainder of the meet. The senior finished with her highest all-around score of the season and helped the Midgets win the meet with a score of 148.400.

“It was definitely my best meet of the season,” said Urlacher, who finished third in the all-around with a 36.325. “It felt good to get that 36 that I had been reaching for all year.”

Minot High finished runner-up with 142.775 while Fargo came in third at 135.900. Valley City supplied 133.400 for fourth and Fargo Davies rounded out the teams in fifth with a 128.700.

On the injury front, the Midgets returned their Nos. 1 and 2 gymnasts, Acacia Fossum and Mikaela Kessel, respectively. The only gymnast Dickinson didn’t have compete was senior Mckenzie Kostelecky, who popped out her shoulder in the middle of the week.

“We almost had everybody,” Dickinson head coach Kent Van Ells said. “They responded real well. Acacia had a really good meet. The idea is when Mckenzie gets back we’ll have everybody.”

Fossum, a freshman at Richardton-Taylor and the two-time defending North Dakota all-around state champion, has been battling a pulled muscled. She competed in all four events for the first time since Dec. 7 and won the all-around (37.975). She also took first in the uneven bars (9.575) and balance beam (9.475).

“I think I did pretty well,” Fossum said. “On floor, I don’t have all my tumbling passes back and on bar, I didn’t have my dismount. I know can do better, but I’m impressed with how I did today.”

Despite modifying a few of her routines, Fossum said it’s just nice to finally be back.

“It’s a lot better than to sit out and watch your team either succeed or fall,” she said. “It’s hard to do that, so I was really happy to help.”

Kessel, a junior at Dickinson High, suffered a concussion during her first event in Fargo on Jan. 5. She was hesitant in returning because if she falls again, she has to back through the mandatory concussion procedures to ensure her safety.

“It was scary,” Kessel said. “I have to be hesitant, but I was so ready to be back, you can’t even think about that sometimes.”

Kessel’s excitement definitely showed. Though she only competed in two events, she won the floor exercise (9.650) and finished runner-up in the beam (9.375).

“I was surprised,” Kessel said with a smile. “I didn’t think I was capable of that yet, but I’m very happy.”

Keana Kudrna finished runner-up in the all-around with a 36.600. The Dickinson freshman won the vault (9.450) and was runner-up on the floor (9.525).

The Midgets continue their season by traveling to Minot at 5:30 p.m. Friday.

“I hope we just keep getting better and peak right when we are at state,” Kessel said.

Fern Pokorny Meet

At DHS gymnasium

Team scores: Dickinson High 148.400, Minot High 142.775, Fargo 135.900, Valley City 133.400, Fargo Davies 128.700.

All around

1, Acacia Fossum, D, 37.975. 2, Keana Kudrna, D, 36.600. 3, Chantal Urlacher, D, 36.325. 4, Samatha Huether, M, 35.875. 5, Jenna Breuer, M, 35.750. 6, Hannah Werchau, M, 35.475. 7, Faith Marty, F, 35.300. 8, Madison Reiter, M, 35.125. 9, Tori Carroll, F, 34.900. 10 (tie), Taylor Johnson, VC, 33.650; Stephanie Huether, M, 33.650.

Vault

1, Keana Kudrna, D, 9.450. 2, Acacia Fossum, D, 9.425. 3 (tie), Tori Carroll, F, 9.325; Samantha Huether, M, 9.325. 5, Chantal Urlacher, D, 9.275. 6, Madison Reiter, M, 9.225. 7, Hannah Werchau, M, 9.150. 8, Leigh Bauer, FD, 9.100. 9, Faith Beck, D, 8.925. 10, Faith Marty, F, 8.775.

Uneven bars

1, Acacia Fossum, D, 9.575. 2, Hannah Werchau, M, 9.525.3 (tie), Jenna Breuer, M, 9.375; Keana Kudrna, D, 9.375. 5, Chantal Urlacher, D, 9.025. 6, Natasha Ussleman, F, 8.900. 7, Samantha Huether, M, 8.875. 8, Tori Carroll, F, 8.750. 9, Abby Brown, VC, 8.700. 10, Madison Reiter, M, 8.600.

Balance beam

1, Acacia Fossum, D, 9.475. 2, Mikaela Kessel, D, 9.375. 3, Faith Marty, F, 9.275. 4, Jenna Mueller, D, 9.225. 5, Jenna Breuer, M, 9.000. 6, Samantha Huether, 8.775. 7, Chantal Urlacher, D, 8.650. 8, Keana Kudrna, D, 8.250. 9, Abby Kessel, D, 8.150. 10, Sara Gilbertson, VC, 8.100.

Floor exercise

1, Mikaela Kessel, D, 9.650. 2, Keana Kudrna, D, 9.525. 3, Acacia Fossum, D, 9.500. 4, Chantal Urlacher, D, 9.375. 5, Madison Reiter, M, 9.300. 6, Madison Uglem, F, 9.200. 7 (tied), Taylor Johnson, BC, 9.075; Jenna Breuer, M, 9.075; Hannah Werchau, M, 9.075. 10 (tie), Stephanie Huether, M, 8.900; Samantha Huether, M, 8.900.

Tags: high school gymnastics, dickinson midgets, sports, gymnastics