She flies through the air with the greatest of ease, Addison Armstrong makes the uneven parallel bars look like a breeze.

“What an awesome time we had,” says head Blue Earth Area gymnastics coach Rachel Cole. Those words were in regard to the Maroon and Gold’s first meet in Winnebago last Tuesday.

For their first meet of the season, the BEA gymnasts faced off against the St. Peter Saints. Though the junior varsity team won against the Saints, 108.950 to 100.050, the varsity team were unable to nab the win. BEA earned 119.050 points, while St. Peter walked away with 128.800 total points.

“The girls did very well, they exceeded my expectations,” says Cole. “We prepared a lot for this first meet and it showed. The girls seemed to overcome their nerves and focus on their routines. It definitely helps to start with a home meet.”

Cole says the team still has a few things to keep working on, but the Bucs are ready to push forward and start working on some new skills.

Two of BEA’s younger varsity members stood out in the meet, placing in each category, including the All Around.

Junior Sydney Blagg focuses on her balance beam routine.

In vault, BEA Buccaneer eighth grader Haley Kalis earned third place with an average score of 8.775, while teammate and seventh grader Addison Armstrong earned fourth place with an average of 8.425 points in vault.

Armstrong and Kalis both duplicated their successes in the uneven parallel bars. Armstrong tied for fouth place with St. Peter’s Claudia Giedd with an average score of 7.050. Kalis’s average score in bars was 6.950.

Kalis tied for fourth place with Armstrong in the balance beam, both earning an average score of 7.075 with their routines, while junior Sydney Blagg also made the top-five cut by placing fifth with an average of 7.000.

As for floor routines, Kalis walked away with third place and an average score of 8.200, while Armstrong was close behind in fourth place with an average of 8.100.

In the all-around category, Kalis earned third place with an all-around total of 31.000, and a high score of 8.775. Armstrong earned fifth in the all-around with a total of 30.725, and a high score of 8.425.

Jazmyn Lunz, of the JV squad, gets some help with spotting from her head coach, Rachel Cole.

The Bucs also had a meet on Friday, Dec. 14, in Winnebago. The statistics of that meet will be in the next edition of the Faribault County Register, along with statistics from their meet against New Ulm on Tuesday, Dec. 18, in New Ulm.