ABERDEEN — Wagner/Bon Homme's Alexys Rueb made history on Saturday night, claiming the Class A state individual balance beam championship for the first time.
Rueb scored 9.233 points, good enough to defeat Chamberlain's Kylah Biggins by a third of a point for the first state event championship in Wagner/Bon Homme co-op history at Golden Eagles Arena.
Rueb, a junior, was the No. 11-ranked beam performer in Class A coming into the meet, with a top score of 8.850 from the region meet eight days prior. But Rueb brought her score up and the rest of the field was unable to match her score set on the first rotation of the competition.
She is the first state champion to represent Bon Homme, her home school. She is the first state champion from either school since 1987, when Mieka Bich won the Class A balance beam event title, and only the fifth all-time.
Three event titles were won by Estelline/Hendricks' Sadie Johnson, who scored 9.750 on vault, 9.767 on floor exercise, plus won the all-around title with 37.350 points. Deuel's MaKia Moe had the uneven bars title (8.850) and took second on all-around (36.933).
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Reub was fourth in the all-around scoring (36.083), just behind Madison's Karlie Nelson (36.200). Reub also finished sixth on floor (9.433) and ninth on vault (8.917).
In addition to the second-place finish on beam, Biggins took fourth on bars (8.583), eighth on floor (9.300). She was fifth in the all-around scoring (35.867).
Chamberlain's Amelia Jones finished seventh in the all-around (35.017). Jones was fourth on the floor exercise (9.500), sixth on vault (9.033) and tied for 10th on beam (8.500). Cubs' teammate Allison Hough took ninth on beam (8.567) .
London Sudbeck, the top performer for Parkston/Ethan/Hanson/Mount Vernon, finished 10th in the all-around scoring (34.767). She was eighth on beam (8.583) and 10th on floor (9.250).
Rueb, Biggins, Jones and Sudbeck were area selections to the South Dakota Gymnastics Coaches Association's all-tournament team. They were joined by Johnson, Moe, Nelson, Hot Springs' Jaylen Nachtigall, Britton-Hecla's Sterling Mertens and Vermillion's Serena Gapp.
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