YANKTON – A devastating injury in the opening rotation put a damper on the Aberdeen Central gymnastics program’s day at the Eastern South Dakota Conference championship meet Saturday. The Golden Eagles finished seventh overall with a team score of 134.875.

Senior Addison Everson suffered a lower leg injury on her opening pass of the floor exercise – Central’s first event of the meet – and was unable to complete either her routine or any of her other events. 

“Obviously, the energy dropped after that, and emotions were high,” said Central coach Mickey Everson. “But we still carried on, put what we could into it and finished the meet.”

Finishing the floor routines was definitely emotional, Everson noted, but the Golden Eagles were able to rebound with good routines in both vault and bars to get back on track.

Central then finished on the beam with just two total falls amongst all competitors.

“We missed a lot of connections that usually give us the bonus points,” Everson noted. “So it wasn’t our best team score, but it was refreshing to hear the girls huddle around us coaches and start planning what we can do next week to prepare for the next meet.”

Maddy Walberg paced the Golden Eagles with a top-10 finish in the vault, tying for ninth. Walberg was also 13th overall in the all-around competition, while leading the way on the beam for Central with a 22nd place showing.

Izzy Loecker had the top Central score in bars, finishing in a tie for 22nd. Regan Lust was 19th on floor.

“We will focus on cleaning up and connecting what we have and plan a strong finish to the season,” Everson said.

Central will head to the State Qualifier next Saturday in Watertown, its final competition ahead of the State AA championships Feb. 14-15 in Watertown.

Team scores: 1, Harrisburg, 152.35; 2, Mitchell, 150.7; 3, Watertown, 143.225; 4, Pierre, 139.875; 5, Brookings, 138.275; 6, Yankton, 135.575; 7, Aberdeen Central, 134.875; 8, Huron, 126.1.

Bars: 1, Bentley Bates, Mitchell, 9.875; 2, Emery Myron, Harrisburg, 9.70; 3, Olivia Prunty, Mitchell, 9.55; 4, Katelyn Maeschen, Harrisburg, 9.525; 5, Kyanna Gropper, Mitchell, 9.475; T22, Izzy Loecker, AC, 8.275; 29, Maddy Walberg, AC, 8.075; 34, Mattie Gederos, AC, 7.875; 35, Regan Lust, AC, 7.55; 36, Alexis Bomesberger, AC, 7.50; 41, Brecken Santjer, AC, 7.20.

Beam: 1, Katelyn Maeschen, Harrisburg, 9.65; 2, Emery Myron, Harrisburg, 9.60; 3, Bentley Bates, Mitchell, 9.45; 4, Meredith Hruby, Harrisburg, 9.425; 5, Shauna Evenson, Watertown, 9.40; T22, Maddy Walberg, AC, 8.525; 27, Izzy Loecker, AC, 8.25; 31, Regan Lust, AC, 8.15; 33, Breckan Santjer, AC, 8.10; 35, Alexis Bomesberger, AC, 8.05; T38, Hattie Gederos, AC, 7.75.

Floor: 1, Katelyn Maeschen, Harrisburg, 9.725; 2, Bentley Bates, Mitchell, 9.70; T3, Aubrey Gelderman, Mitchell, 9.675; T3, Aubrey Gelderman, Mitchell, 9.675; 5, Brinly Sanderson, Harrisburg, 9.65; 19, Regan Lust, AC, 9.075; T21, Breckan Santjer, AC, 8.95; 32, Alexis Bomesberger, AC, 8.65; 42, Maddy Walberg, AC, 8.225; 43, Morgan Naasz, AC, 7.90; T47, Addison Everson, AC, 7.225.

Vault: 1, Olivia Prunty, Mitchell, 9.675; 2, Katelyn Maeschen, Harrisburg, 9.55; 3, Isabelle Reiners, Harrisburg, 9.475; T4, Jersey Tyron, Harrisburg, 9.375; T4, Mereity Hruby, Harrisburg, 9.375; T9, Maddy Walberg, AC, 9.125; T26, Izzy Loecker, AC, 8.70; T28, Alexis Bomesberger, AC, 8.675; T28, Breckan Santjer, AC, 8.675; 32, Regan Lust, AC, 8.575; 45, Morgan Naasz, AC, 8.00.

All-Around: 1, Katelyn Maeschen, Harrisburg, 38.45; 2, Bentley Bates, Mitchell, 38.00; 3, Olivia Prunty, Mitchell, 37.85; 4, Marli Wadsworth, Watertown, 36.20; 5, Keyana Kelley, Mitchell, 36.05; T13, Maddy Walberg, 33.95; 18, Regan Lust, AC, 33.35; 20, Breckan Santjer, AC, 32.925; T21, Alexis Bomesberger, AC, 32.875.