VALPARAISO | Morgan Algozine suffered her only two falls of the season on beam at last week's Chesterton Sectional.
The Valparaiso senior gymnast not only remained off the ground until her dismount at Friday's Valparaiso Regional, she totaled a school-record 39.05 in all-around.
"(The fall) was in the back of my mind, but I wasn't about to focus on it," said Algozine, who also won beam (9.77), floor (9.75) and vault (9.8). "I used it as motivation. I was determined to stay on the beam."
Algozine helped the hosts win their sixth straight team crown, defeating Portage 113.575-112.4, but she was far from the lone reason Valparaiso repeated.
Teammate Hannah Erwin was fifth in all-around (37.425), while freshman Lia Milroy led off the Vikings' final rotation, beam, with a 9.3.
"That was huge," Vikings coach Lorie Cook said of Milroy's score. "That was sweet."
The Vikings also were very consistent with their scoring, reaching 28.0 in each event and only differing only .125 on all four events. They scored over 113 for the second consecutive week.
"We'll use it as a confidence builder," Algozine said. "We still have another meet left."
Portage makes its second consecutive trip to state. Senior Mackenzie Barcelli was second in all-around (38.025), and she tied for first with Algozine and teammate Danielle Solis for first on floor (9.75). Solis (9.675) and teammate Madison Kurtz (9.575) finished second and third, respectively, on vault.
"We're getting more confident," Indians coach Karen Barcelli said. "we haven't (had a perfect meet) yet, and we still have some things to work out."
The Indians scored just 26.9 on bars, but coach Barcelli thought her team improved on the event.
"I think the scoring was a little tougher (at the regional)," she said. "I thought we were better (than last week)."
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