While Harrisburg dominated the competition in winning all of the individual events on the way to claiming the team championship Saturday, other gymnasts continued to display progress during the Hub City Invitational at Aberdeen Central.

Watertown finished second with Pierre third. Aberdeen Central was fourth, Britton-Hecla fifth, and Milbank sixth.

“I feel like we added some new things today. We had kids compete that haven’t. We’re missing three girls taking ACTs today, so it changed their lineup a little bit,” said Central coach Mickey Everson. “So some of them that don’t normally see these big invites competition-wise were a little nervous, but they did tremendously. They all pulled it together and the girls that were here were great leaders.”

The Golden Eagles received a big showing from eighth-grader Madelyn Walberg, who finished 10th in the overall after tying for ninth in the vault, and 11th on the beam.

Walberg said she has noticed considerable improving since Central’s first action last week.

“At the first meet I fell twice, and in this meet I didn’t have any falls, so I’m really proud of my performance,” Walberg said. “I think I’m definitely progressing already.”

Walberg said there is a strong mental component to gymnastics, especially in the tougher events.

“I think you have to be very tough mentally if you want to do good,” Walberg said. “Physical definitely plays a part in it, but mental is really big, so you have to ready for what you’re doing.”

Everson said that Walberg continues to grow as a gymnast and is always looking for ways to improve.

“Every year you see a little more maturity from her and getting to that level,” Everson said. “And of course after every event, what can I do better? How can I get higher?”

Central also received a boost from fellow eight-grader Hattie Gederos as the Golden Eagles showed their depth during the meet.

“My other little one, Hattie, too,” Everson said of the solid performances on the day. “You know what, you stepped up when I asked you to. You did just fine.”

Milbank’s Hannah Brown had the highest all-around finish for area gymnasts. The senior was seventh in all-around after tying for fourth on the beam, and tying for ninth on the vault.

“My beam was really good,” Brown said. “Floor I kind of messed up a little bit, but that’s OK.”

Brown said that perfecting a floor routine takes months of work.

“We get new floor routines every two years, and then someone comes in and choreographs it with us,” Brown said. “It’s the end of summer, before our season starts.”

As her prep career is winding to an end, Brown has mixed emotions about her final season.

“It’s kind of sad, but I’ve doing gymnastics since I was 6,” Brown said. “Sometimes I’m over it, ready to be done, but then I remember I’m not going to do it again, and it makes me sad.”

Britton-Hecla, the smallest school competing at the meet, used a balanced attack to finish ahead of a couple of bigger programs.

“It is fun going against some of the bigger schools and coming out on top of them,” said Britton-Hecla junior Abigail Lee, “because we work really hard in just the three months that we have.”

Lee led the Braves with a top-12 finish in all-around. She said she is always trying to find ways to improve.

“I got a qualifying vault score, so that was good,” Lee said. “Bars is going good, and I know there’s stuff to clean on. … It’s always nice going and seeing what the judges have to say about your routine, so that you can know what to fix.”

Aberdeen Central will head to Milbank for another invitational on Saturday.

Team Points: 1, Harrisburg 147.850; 2, Watertown 141.300; 3, Pierre 132.150; 4, Aberdeen Central 131.185; 5, Britton-Hecla 129.600; 6, Milbank 126.350; 7, Huron 123.200.

Vault: 1, Emery Myron, Harrisburg, 9.800; 2, Meredith Hruby, Harrisburg, 9.250; 3, Jersy Tryon, Harrisburg, 9.200; 4, Brinly Sanderson, Harrisburg, 9.000; 5, Marli Wadsworth, Watertown, 8.900; 6, (tie) Shauna Evenson, Watertown, 8.850, Ashlynn Andrew, Watertown, 8.850, and Macyn Dunnihoo, Milbank, 8.850; 9, (tie) Madelyn Walberg, Aberdeen Central, 8.800, and Hannah Brown, Milbank, 8.800; 11, Kirsten Korber, Pierre, 8.800; 12, Brecken Santjer, Aberdeen Central, 8.750.

Bars: 1, Ailee Johnson, Harrisburg, 9.100; 2, Emery Myron, Harrisburg, 9.000; 3, Emery Gaikowski, Watertown, 8.750; 4, Jersy Tryon, Harrisburg, 8.700; 5, Brinly Sanderson, Harrisburg, 8.600; 6, Hadley Moody, Harrisburg, 8.550; 7, Elly Dingsor, Watertown, 8.450; 8, Emelia Loe, Pierre, 8.350; 9, Shauna Evenson, Watertown, 8.200; 10, Ashlynn Andrews, Watertown, 8.150; 11, Marli Wadsworth, Watertown, 8.050; 12, Ryen Sheppick, Pierre, 8.000.

Beam: 1, Meredith Hruby, Harrisburg, 9.550; 2, Emery Myron, Harrisburg, 9.500; 3, Marli Wadsworth, Watertown, 9.200; 4, (tie) Hadley Moody, Harrisburg, 9.100, Ryen Sheppick, Pierre, 9.100, and Hannah Brown, Milbank, 9.100; 7, Shauna Evenson, Watertown, 9.050; 8, Brinly Sanderson, Harrisburg, 9.000; 9, (tie) Jersy Tryon, Harrisburg, 8.950, and Emery Gaikowski, Watertown, 8.950; 11, Madelyn Walberg, Aberdeen Central, 8.900; 12, Ava Teveldal, Britton-Hecla, 8.700.

Floor: 1, (tie) Meredith Hruby, Harrisburg, 9.600, and Lilly Gusso, Harrisburg, 9.600; 3, Brinly Sanderson, Harrisburg, 9.500; 4, Jersy Tryon, Harrisburg, 9.350; 5, Ashynn Andrews, Watertown, 9.300; 6, (tie) Emery Gaikowski, Watertown, 9.250, Shauna Evenson, Watertown, 9.250, and Hadley Moody, Harrisburg, 9.250; 11, Marli Wadsworth, Watertown, 9.200; 12, Brecken Santjer, Aberdeen Central, 9.050.

All-Around: 1, Jersy Tryon, Harrisburg, 36.200; 2, Brinly Sanderson, Harrisburg, 36.100; 3, (tie) Marli Wadsworth, Watertown, 35.350, and Shauna Evenson, Watertown, 35.350 5, Emery Gaikowski, Watertown, 35.200; 6, Ashlynn Andrews, Watertown, 34.950; 7, Hannah Brown, Milbank, 34.650; 8, Ryen Sheppick, Pierre, 34.600; 9, Brecken Santjer, Aberdeen Central, 33.800; 10, Madelyn Walberg, Aberdeen Central, 33.750; 11, Alexis Bomesberger, Aberdeen Central, 32.950; 12, Abigail Lee, Britton-Hecla, 32.900.

To see complete results, click on the following link:

https://scoreflippers.com/INSIGHT/Meet_Scores_Simple.aspx?MeetID=33850