VALPARAISO | Valparaiso girls gymnastics coach Lorie Cook said one of the reasons to have an invitational is to get a good look at different teams.
Teams that attended the 22nd annual Viking Invitational on Saturday also got a very good look at the Vikings. Valparaiso won the invitational with a score of 110.975.
The Vikings placed first in three of the four events -- the vault, uneven bars and floor exercise.
Morgan Algozine, Hannah Erwin and Allie Lazerwitz placed in the top three of the uneven bars, totaling 28.450 points. Algozine, Emily Crosmer, Allyson Kraft and Erwin swept the floor exercise.
Algozine, Lazerwitz and Crosmer took first, second and fourth, respectively, in the vault event.
"Our girls on floor, Emily and Allyson did a nice job. Hanna had a really nice bar routine. Allie had a great vault, so really we did really well, except for beam. Allyson was key on beam, she stayed on beam and did a nice routine," Valparaiso coach Lorie Cook said.
The Vikings took second in the vault. Kraft placed the highest for Valparaiso in third place.
"We only had one main beam routine, and that's not how we'd like to perform , but to give the girls credit. They did a really nice job on floor with a great team total," Cook said. "There was a little let down on beam, but hopefully we can fix that."
Algozine took the all-around title, tallying 37.600 points. She took first place in all events except for beam, where she took fifth.
"Morgan's a really strong gymnast; she's done great on every event. She's worked hard to try to add some difficulty on beam and vault," Cook said.
"I have to owe it to my team, we practice together and practice so hard. We push each other in the gym all day every day, and I wouldn't be anywhere without them," Algozine said.
Lafayette Jefferson placed second with 102.775 points. Boone Grove finished in seventh place, with Valerie Strickland tying for third in the all-around event with 33.425 points.
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