Elk River gymnast comes back, big time

February 19, 2013 at 11:14PM
Kaylee Jondahl
Kaylee Jondahl (Paul Klauda/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

After a three-year hiatus, Elk River gymnast Kaylee Jondahl returns to the state meet.

Jondahl, a senior, qualified in all four events plus the all-around. She won the Section 8 vault and uneven bars events. She placed second in floor exercise and the all-around and took fourth on the balance beam. The top four finishers in each event move on to the state meet.

Jondahl is in the mix to capture multiple state titles Friday and Saturday at the University of Minnesota Sports Pavilion.

By all accounts, she electrified the state meet crowd as a freshman, when she placed second in floor exercise and vault and took fourth in all-around.

Right after the state meet, Jondahl went back to club gymnastics and remained there as a sophomore and junior before burning out.

Alpine skiingTwo north metro boys placed among the top 10 last week at the Alpine skiing state meet at Giants Ridge in Biwabik. Mounds View's Nik Damberg took fourth with a two-run total time of 1 minute, 15.42 seconds, two spots ahead of Centennial's Taylor Lindy (1:15.54).

For the girls, Mounds View raced to fifth place among the eight competing teams. Juliana Damberg led the way with a 14th-place finish in a time of 1:20.98.

Nordic skiingTwo north metro boys placed among the top 10 last week at the Nordic skiing state meet at Giants Ridge in Biwabik. Irondale's Tyler Gilbert paced the Knights' fifth-place team finish by taking fifth in the individual standings with an overall time of 30 minutes, 29.3 seconds. Mounds View's Steve Hokanson came in sixth (30:31.6).

Among girls, Irondale's Mattie Watts placed fifth in a time of 34:45.1 to secure her third consecutive all-state finish at state.

David La Vaque • 612-673-7574

about the writer

about the writer

David La Vaque

Reporter

David La Vaque is a high school sports reporter who has been the lead high school hockey writer for the Minnesota Star Tribune since 2010. He is co-author of “Tourney Time,” a book about the history of Minnesota’s boys hockey state tournament published in 2020 and updated in 2024.

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