MINOT -- The members of the Minot High gymnastics team spent the past week practicing to improve their balance beam routines.
It showed Saturday.
The Majettes took the top four spots in the beam en route to a victory at the Kim Lupo Memorial Meet with 145.575 points. Dickinson was a close runner-up with 145.050, followed by Bismarck High (138.500) and Bismarck Century (132.875).
It was Dickinson's first loss of the season. The Midgets had won their first nine meets.
The Majettes began the rotation on the beam and got off to a quick start, scoring 37.450 points, two better than any other team in the field.
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"It was phenomenal," Minot head coach Pam Tweten said. "We had 3 to 4 more points than we usually do on the beam."
The point swing was key according to Dickinson coach Kent Van Ells.
"We only had a couple girls stay on the vault," he said. "That made a difference. I was impressed with the improvement that Minot made."
Minot's Misha Taylor won the event with a 9.5, followed by teammates Brooklyn Bender (9.375), Joley Beeler (9.325) and Allison Tracy (9.25).
The win came as a bit of a surprise for Taylor, an eighth-grader who finished in a tie for 10th in the event at last season's state tournament.
"It really was a really big confidence booster," Tweten said. "She did a fabulous job. I hope she realizes now what she can do."
Bender used a strong showing in the event to vault herself to the all-around title. She won the vault with a score of 9.4 and also finished second in the bars with a 9.2.
Joley Beeler finished third in the all-around. While Beeler wasn't dominant in any single event, she was consistent, finishing in the top seven in each.
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Bismarck High's Megan Meyer finished in first in the bars with a score of 9.325.
Dickinson was led by Jennifer Bachamp's dominating win in the floor exercise with a 9.650 and Brogan Burwick's second-place finish in the all-around.
"She had a real solid day," VanElls said of Burwick. "She could come out on top in any event, especially in beam. She's got top-quality routines in all four (events)."
Ken Lupo Memorial
At Minot
Team scores: 1, Minot, 145.575. 2, Dickinson, 145.05. 3, Bismark, 138.5. 4, Century, 132.875.
All around
1, Brooklyn Bender, Minot, 36.95. 2, Brogan Burwick, Dickinson, 36.4. 3, Joley Beeler, Minot, 36.3. 4, Jennifer Bachamp, Dickinson, 36.025. 5, Misha Taylor, Minot, 36.0. 6, Allison Tracy, Minot, 35.725. 7, Lexi Stickel, Dickinson, 35.45. 8, Brooke Sickler, Dickinson, 35.325. 9, Megan Meyer, Bismarck, 34.9. 10, McKenzie Keidel, Bismarck, 34.85.
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Vault
1, Bender, Minot, 9.4. 2(t), Burwick, Dickinson, 9.3. 2(t), Stickel, Dickinson, 9.3. 4, Jennifer Bachamp, Dickinson, 9.25. 5, Kelsey Dukart, Dickinson, 9.2. 6, Kristen Jacobchick, Century, 9.175. 7, Beeler, Minot, 9.075. 8, Melissa Bachamp, Dickinson, 9.05.
Uneven parallel bars
1, Meyer, Bismarck, 9.325. 2, Bender, Minot, 9.2. 3, Burwick, Dickinson, 9.1. 4, Keidel, Bismarck, 8.875. 5, Sickler, Dickinson, 8.775. 6, Beeler, Minot, 8.725. 7, Stickel, Dickinson, 8.7. 8, Jennifer Albers, Bismarck, 8.675.
Balance beam
1, Taylor, Minot, 9.5. 2, Bender, Minot, 9.375. 3, Beeler, Minot, 9.325. 4, Tracy, Minot, 9.25. 5, Sickler, Dickinson, 9.05. 6, Burwick, Dickinson, 9.025. 7, Keidel, Bismarck, 8.7. 8, Dukart, Dickinson, 8.625.
Floor exercise
1, Jennifer Bachamp, Dickinson, 9.65. 2, Marie Franzen, Dickinson, 9.45. 3, Dukart, Dickinson, 9.4. 4, Tracy, Minot, 9.225. 5, Beeler, Minot, 9.175. 6, Keidel, Bismarck, 9.15. 7, Stickel, Dickinson, 9.1. 8, Taylor, Minot, 9.075.
