Staff Photo by Jake Olson: Martin County Area's Nola Thedens performs her floor routine during last Saturday's Jackson County Central Sweetheart Invitational. The Magic earned a third-place finish with a score of 135.425, trailing only Worthington (141.925) and New Prague (142.175).

JACKSON – The Martin County Area Magic continued its strong week with a third-place finish in this year’s Jackson County Central Sweetheart Invitational, notching a team score of 135.425 and placing behind Worthington (141.925) and New Prague (142.175).

MCA has now scored at least 135 points or more in back-to-back meets. The Magic were coming off a season’s best performance of 135.6 against Blue Earth Area heading into Saturday. While MCA was unable to top that mark, head coach Annie Post was extremely happy with her team’s performance in such a talent-filled competition.

“There are two ways this could have gone,” Post said. “Either we get down on ourselves and try too hard to compete, or we do better because we have to raise the bar, just like these other teams are. It was fun to get third and have such a fun meet against these teams.”

Lillie Schultz had another strong outing for the Magic, finishing second in All-Around with a score of 36.175. Schultz finished third in beam and floor while earning fifth on bars. New Prague’s Hailey Proshek took home first place in this category after recording an impressive 37.725.

MCA’s Jadyn Montgomery and Nola Thedens wrapped up Saturday with Top 20 finishes, earning 13th and 17th place with scores of 33.6 and 32.9, respectively.

After starting off with a team score of 38.1 on bars, the Magic picked up momentum during their next routine on beam. Avery Steuber earned an 8.3 before Schultz and Adriana Leiding recorded scores of 9.325 and 8.37 to finish off the rotation.

Post’s squad continued its stride on the floor, with all five athletes earning scores of 7.9 or higher for a team output of 42.85. Montgomery and Schultz capped off the precise apparatus with scores of 9.025 and 9.15.

The Magic wrapped things up with yet another strong showing on vault. Schultz and Thedens scored above a nine with outputs of 9.2 and 9.0. Montgomery, Kyla Benck, and Leiding notched scores of 8.75, 8.6 and 8.4 to fuel a team score of 43.95.

“Floor is always fun, it brings a lot of energy,” Post said. “To end on vault, with two girls stick a vault, we haven’t had a stick all season, but two in the same day was super cool.”

MCA will continue its season on Tuesday, welcoming Waseca into town for a head-to-head matchup held at the Fairmont Armory. The competition is set to start at 6 p.m.