Farmington Tiger sophomore gymnast Libby Bolton is headed to state after qualifying for the floor exercise last Friday, Feb. 15, as her team hosted the Section 1AA meet. Bolton took fifth with a score of 9.325 on the floor to make her first state meet. As a team, Farmington finished third with a total score of 141.950 behind runners-up Northfield (146.425) and champions Owatonna (147.025).
The Tigers took third in three events-vault with a 37.275, beam with a 35.225 and floor with a 36.576-while taking fourth on bars with a score of 32.775. Below are the full scores by event:
In the all-around, Farmington was represented by eighth-grader Kinsley Taylor and sophomore Nadia Eckert. Taylor took fifth with a score of 35.550 and Eckert was eighth with a 35.100.
On vault, Bolton led the Tigers with a seventh-place finish and a score of 9.375. Eckert took ninth with a score of 9.350, junior Madison Jones finished 11th with a 9.300, junior Madeline Hins placed 13th (9.250) and Taylor took 15th with a score of 9.125.
For the uneven bars, Taylor took ninth with a score of 8.525, sophomore Madison Ask finished 11th in 8.475 and Eckert placed 16th (8.150). Freshman Isabelle Anderson took 22nd with a score of 7.625 and senior Hannah Sorenson finished 27th with a 7.250.
On beam, Sarah McCormick took eighth with a score of 9.000, Taylor finished 11th with a 8.850 and sophomore Abigail Shearer was right behind her in 12th (8.700). Junior Ashleigh Buckman took 14th with a score of 8.675 and Eckert was two spots behind her in 16th with a 8.475.
Finally on floor Bolton led the way with her qualifying fifth-place finish and 9.325 score. Junior Lauren Eccles took 12th with a score of 9.175, Eckert finished 14th with a 9.125, Taylor placed 16th (9.050) and right behind her was Hins in 17th with a 8.875.
After the meet, Bolton said that her first reaction was gratitude.
"That all my hard work had paid off and I was super excited," she said. "I thought I wasn't going to make it after my routine, I didn't think I scored high enough so yeah it was a surprise."
She also said that over the past year her mental game has improved the most.
"I've gotten a lot more skill, but more mentally strong throughout the season," she said. "It was my first season on the high school team and it was a lot to adapt to and I got used to everything."
As for what she's looking forward to most about the state tournament?
"Coming together with a ton of amazing gymnasts from around the state and having a ton of fun," Bolton said.
Bolton will compete on Saturday, Feb. 23, at Maturri Pavilion on the University of Minnesota's campus. Class AA starts at 6 p.m. and floor will be the last event. The Section 1AA competitors will go first on floor.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Thank you for taking part in our commenting section. We want this platform to be a safe and inclusive community where you can freely share ideas and opinions. Comments that are racist, hateful, sexist or attack others won’t be allowed. Just keep it clean. Do these things or you could be banned:
• Don’t name-call and attack other commenters. If you’d be in hot water for saying it in public, then don’t say it here.
• Don’t spam us.
• Don’t attack our journalists.
Let’s make this a platform that is educational, enjoyable and insightful.
Email questions to mthorud@orourkemediagroup.com.