On Feb. 4, the combined North and South gymnastics team participated in the annual Canton Invitational. Grosse Pointe United competed against the top 18 gymnastics teams across the state and placed 13th overall. Although the group ranking was low, the team posted their second highest team total, scoring 134.85 in all events. Athletes also had great performances that helped contribute to the victory.

Junior Maggie Bowers contributed to the team by scoring an 8.1 in her beam routine and was also an all-around performer for Grosse Pointe United.

Bowers was proud of her performance and liked the challenge when faced up against tough competitors.

“I think I did well,” Bowers said. “I felt I was solid on every event. This was a tough meet so the scores I received I felt were appropriate given the meet. There definitely was tough competition. Most teams that were at the invitational end up going to the state competition. Our team prepared by doing a lot of full routines to practice for what our competition was going to be like on Saturday.”

Another strong performance came from freshman Emma Burney who participated in two events over the weekend but then withstanded a wrist injury.

Although Burney wasn’t able to finish out the rest of the tournament, she was proud of the personal and team performances.

Head coach Kirstin Remillet, acknowledges the team’s hard work and viewed the top competitors as challenges to improve.

“Our gymnasts thrive in the competitive nature of these larger-scale meets. Most of our top team scores this season have come from our three invitationals we’ve attended,” Remillet said. “This is promising for the big regional meet coming up on March 5 at Walled Lake High School. At the regional meet, only the top three teams will continue onto the state meet.”

Moving forward, Remillet hopes to see improvements in performances as the team prepares for states. She believes that if her gymnasts are able to stay balanced on the beam, that the team’s overall score will increase.

“Falls on the balance beam can be make or break for your team score,” Remillet said. “(There will be) lots of full routines and pressure sets in practice in the coming weeks to end our season.”