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Luverne beams by Magic gymnasts

STRETCHED OUT — Martin County Area gymnast Jadyn Montgomery makes the transition from the low to high bar during her unevens routine during Big South Conference dual-meet action against Luverne on Tuesday night at Live Fit Sport & Wellness Center in Fairmont. (Photo by Charlie Sorrells)

FAIRMONT — With Ella Reisdorfer, Luverne’s leading scorer on the season, out of the starting rotation due to illness Tuesday night, sophomore Amira Cowell and junior Sarah de Cesare picked up the scoring slack for the Cardinal gymnasts.

Cowell produced a Big South Conference dual meet-best 33.975 points to win the all-around competition, while de Cesare netted a total of 32.475 to net third overall to power Luverne to a 131.2-128.775 triumph over the Martin County Area Magic at Live Fit Sport & Wellness Center in Fairmont.

“Illnesses and injuries happen, so you have to make last-minute adjustments, and girls have to step in and fill the spots the best they can,” said Luverne head coach Phoebe Flom.

Cowell captured top honors on both the vault (9.175) and uneven parallel bars (8.5) to pace her first-place performance in the all-around, in addition to netting third on the balance beam (8.25).

deCesare proved the only Luverne gymnast to prevent an MCA top-four sweep on the floor exercise by tumbling to a second-place mark of 8.6.

Lillie Schultz posted a first-place total of 8.85 to ignite the Magic’s best event showing, while teammates Mollie Leiding and Abi Chavez claimed third and fourth by producing scores of 8.45 and 8.4, respectively.

“We turned in another strong performance on the floor tonight, and we came close to scoring our season’s-best of 129.925,” said MCA head coach Annie Post. “We increased the difficulty of our vaults tonight, and a few other places here and there in the three other events.”

Mollie Leiding, who captured runner-up all-around honors with a team-best total of 33.15, rotated her Tsukahara to garner the dual meet’s No. 2 score of 9.0 to match Luverne’s Kendra Thorson.

Leiding also struck gold on the balance beam by generating a winning mark of 8.7. The eighth-grade phenom hit two back handsprings and planted her standing back tuck to highlight the near-flawless effort.

Ava Thate garnered fourth place in the all-around competition by chalking up 31.1 points for the Magic, while Jadyn Montgomery produced a second-place uneven parallel bars’ score of 7.675 to pace MCA’s effort on the piece of equipment.

de Cesare also placed third on the unevens with a 7.575, while teammates Kianna Winter and Reagan Gangestad contributed a pair of fourth-place showings on the vault (8.55) and beam (8.075), respectively, for Luverne.

Martin County Area travels to Marshall on Monday night for its final regular-season dual meet, while Luverne plays host to St. James Area on Thursday night in another Big South Conference dual meet.

Varsity Results

Luverne 131.2;

MCA 128.775

All-Around: 1. Amira Cowell (LUV) 33.975; 2. Mollie Leiding (MCA) 33.15; 3. Sarah de Cesare (LUV) 32.475; 4. Ava Thate (MCA) 31.1.

Vault: 1. Amira Cowell (LUV) 9.175; T2. Mollie Leiding (MCA) and Kendra Thorson (LUV) 9.0s; 4. Kianna Winter (LUV) 8.55.

Other MCA scores: Ava Thate 8.45; Lillie Schultz 8.45; Jadyn Montgomery 8.375; Abi Chavez 8.325.

Unevens: 1. Amira Cowell (LUV) 8.5; 2. Jadyn Montgomery (MCA) 7.675; 3. Sarah de Cesare (LUV) 7.575; 4. Addyson Mann (LUV) 7.425.

Other MCA scores: Nora Fitzgerald 7.35; Ava Thate 7.225; Abi Chavez 7.2; Mollie Leiding 7.0.

Beam: 1. Mollie Leiding (MCA) 8.7; 2. Addyson Mann (LUV) 8.4; 3. Amira Cowell (LUV) 8.25; 4. Reagan Gangestad (LUV) 8.075.

Other MCA scores: Adriana Leiding 7.55; Nola Thedens 7.5; Lillie Schultz 7.4; Ava Thate 7.225.

Floor: 1. Lillie Schultz (MCA) 8.85; 2. Sarah de Cesare (LUV) 8.6; 3. Mollie Leiding (MCA) 8.45; 4. Abi Chavez (MCA) 8.4.

Other MCA scores: Ava Thate 8.2; Jadyn Montgomery 7.6.

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