Austin Packers gymnastics team 1st at Rochester Invitational Friday; second at Winona Invitational Saturday

The Austin Packers gymnastics team had a busy weekend with the regular season starting to wind down, as they competed in a Big 9 Conference quadrangular at Freidell Middle School in Rochester Friday with Rochester Mayo, Rochester Century and Rochester John Marshall.  The Packers took first with a team total of 133.150, followed by Century in second place with 126.825 team points, Mayo was third with 126.575 points and John Marshall was fourth with 18.575 points.

Kiki Rodriguez helped to lead Austin to the win with a personal best in the all-around of 35.625, good for first place.  Teammate Reese Norton was third in the all-around with a final score of 32.575, and it was the Packers sweeping the top three spots on the vault, with Rodriguez first with a score of 9.325, Hannah Fritz was second with a score of 8.625 and Katelynn Klouse took third for Austin with a score of 8.450.  Rodriguez was also first on the bars with a score of 8.650, while Fritz was third with a score of 7.900, and the Packers also swept the top three spots on the balance beam as Rodriguez was first with a score of 8.550, Norton was second with a score of 8.075 and Klouse took third with a final score of 8.050.  Rodriguez and Norton were second and third for Austin on the floor exercise, as Rodriguez tallied a score of 9.100 and Norton registered a 9.075.

At the Winona Invitational on Saturday, the Packers registered a season-high team score of 136.950, which was good for second place behind the host Winhawks, who garnered 141.300 team points for first.  Pine Island-Zumbrota/Mazeppa was third with a final team score of 133.350 and Stewartville/Chatfield was fourth with a score of 116.300.

Kiki Rodriguez, Hannah Fritz and Katelynn Klouse went 3-4-5 in the all-around with scores of 35.000, 34.200 and 33.900, respectively, with Rodriguez taking first on the vault with a score of 9.150, and Fritz was third with a score of 8.850.  Rodriguez was fourth for Austin on the uneven bars with a score of 8.400, and Katelynn Klouse took sixth with a final score of 8.100, while on the balance beam, Fritz took first for the Packers with a score of 9.100, Klouse was third with a score of 9.000 and Emily Klapperich was fifth for Austin with a score of 8.800.  On the floor exercise, Rodriguez earned a second-place finish with a score of 9.450, Reese Norton was sixth with a score of 9.100 and Hanna Fritz was seventh with a final score of 8.900.

The Packers will close out the dual meet portion of their season Friday, February 3rd at Red Wing, with the action scheduled to start at 6:30 p.m., followed by the Big 9 meet at Freidell Middle School in Rochester on Saturday, February 11th at 11:00 a.m. that day.