BROOKINGS -- Competing for the first time in almost a month, the Mitchell High School gymnastics team won Saturday's 10-team Brookings Invite with a 143.525.
The win was the Kernels' fourth in five meets this season. Mitchell's closest competition, as expected, came from Watertown, which finished second with a 142.275. Sioux Falls Lincoln took third with a 142.15.
"I felt like it was a low scoring meet in general," said Mitchell coach Audra Rew, whose team still managed to post its second highest score of the season, about a point lower than the last meet in Aberdeen. "The scores were low for all the teams, but not because performances were down. We saw it across board with every team.
Amelia Rew won her fourth all-around title in four meets this season, finishing with a 38.1, beating Watertown's Caitlin Mack, who was second with a 36.9 and Mitchell's Tessa Dee, who was third with a 36.775 in one of her strongest meets of the season.
"It was probably Tessa's best meet," Audra Rew said. "Amelia duplicated one of her other meets, and it's about adding up a bunch of individual scores, so that's always good to see.
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Rew's first-place finish in the all-around was thanks to three event titles and another second-place finish. Rew won the vault (9.7), beam (9.7) and floor (9.65), and finished second to Mack on the bars with a 9.05.
"She was just calm and just did one routine after another," Audra Rew said.
Dee also placed in the top seven in all four events. Her best finish was second on floor exercise, where she was second, behind only Rew, with a 9.45. She was also third on vault (9.25), fifth on beam (9.25) and seventh on bars (8.825).
"Tessa did a new bar dismount and hit it," Rew said. That was really exciting."
Kendell Smith also had a strong showing on beam for Mitchell. She was second with a 9.55.
"Kendell had a phenomenal beam routine," Rew said. "That's not shocking because she got third on the beam at state. It doesn't surprise us because she's always elegant and beautiful on beam.
Rew also noted a strong performance from Molly Cahoy, who competed in the all-around for the first time, as well as a strong vault from Tara Palmer and a nice floor routine from Kendra Cersosimo.
Mitchell will compete again on Tuesday in a triangular at Wagner, which will also include Sioux Falls Roosevelt. Rew said she will give her varsity girls a chance to rest, and will instead take some of the JV gymnasts.
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The next chance the Mitchell varsity girls will get to compete is Jan. 24 at the Watertown Invite.
