Much of the excitement built during floor exercise in which the Eskymos swept all five places.

“I’m very proud of the girls and happy with their performance,” Esky coach Theresa Pascoe said. “The momentum we built on floor was totally awesome.

“We had a rough start on (balance) beam. We had eight falls, which is four points for the team. This is the first time I’ve seen the girls fall on cartwheels. They normally do well on those, although it was great to see them bounce back on floor.

“We had only 10 practices leading into this meet. I’m OK with where we were tonight. Only we need to be more focused on beam.”

Skye Clinton of Negaunee makes her dismount off the balance beam during a high school gymnastics meet against the Eskymos on Wednesday in Escanaba. (Escanaba Daily Press photo by Todd Rose)

She was happy about her team’s performance in the vault, however.

“Vault has always been a strong event for us, and tonight we scored 33 points,” Pascoe said. “I’m happy for Negaunee that they have a team. They also have a young team.”

Senior Skye Clinton provided the Miners with a first on beam (7.1).

“I thought we did a nice job on beam,” Negaunee coach Eyre Becker said. “We had only one fall, which is a confidence boost for the girls.

“We had been working real hard on vault. It’s disappointing we lost a few girls to nerves. When you don’t have a lot of confidence and speed, it can equal disaster.

“We’ve had only nine practices and don’t have a good feeder program right now. We need time to do the routines and more space to work with. Hopefully, we’ll find some clubs up there.”

Esky swept the vault and nearly swept bars.

“It’s always intimidating to come down here for our first competition because they’re just so strong,” Becker said. “The best part of competing with Escanaba is we always have each other’s best interests at heart. Both teams always show great sportsmanship. They clap for our girls, and we clap for theirs.”

Escanaba freshman Bridget Bichler won floor with 8.3 points, followed by junior Caitlyn Davenport (7.9) and freshman Alyiah Mylander (7.8).

“I was very proud of my performance,” Bichler said. “I thought I did very good for the first meet. Floor set the tone for us.

“Having my teammates cheer for me made my energy a lot higher. The crowd was amazing tonight. I was actually surprised by the size of the crowd (because of COVID-19).”

Eskymos junior Lizzy Sliva led the all-around with 30.5 points. She was followed by Davenport (29.85) and Bichler (28.3).

Sliva added firsts on vault (8.8) and uneven bars (7.7).

“I was shocked by that one,” Sliva said about her score on vault. “That was definitely one of my highest scores. Everybody having a positive attitude and cheering each other on really helped.

“I feel bad for those in contact sports, working so hard in practice and having to wait so long to start their seasons. I’m just grateful for having the opportunity to compete.”

Davenport was runner-up on vault (8.3) and bars (7.7). Mylander was third on floor (7.8), and Bichler took third on bars (5.8).

The teams meet again Wednesday at Negaunee.