TUZINSKI WINS ALL-AROUND FOR TROJANS
Valpo wins team title.
CROWN POINT — Following the morning practice session before Saturday’s Duneland Athletic Conference gymnastics championships, Chesterton Brandi Tuzinski said something didn’t feel right to her.
“I just felt kind of off today,” she said. “After the morning session I just thought: ‘I don’t know about this.’”
But Tuzinski was able to shake those nerves and post an all-around score of 37.425, narrowly edging Portage’s Danielle Solis (37.375) for the allaround crown.
“It’s very encouraging,” Tuzinski continued. “I had a great team behind me who keep my nerves down. They had a lot to do with it; they had my back for the whole meet.”
Tuzinski was in the top four in each event, peaking in second place on bars with a 9.3 She finished behind Valparaiso’s Rushelle Miller (9.325) in that event. Solis took home top honors on vault (9.75) and beam (9.425), while teammate Madison Kurtz had the highest score of the day on floor (9.675).
For the third straight year, the DAC team title went to Valparaiso, which put together a team score of 110.775 — more than two points ahead of second-place Portage’s 108.7. Merrillville rounded out the top three with a 108.125 score, closely followed by Michigan City (106.55) and Chesterton (106.2).
“We have some of the best teams in the state here and competition is very tough,” Valparaiso coach Lorie Cook said. “I’m thrilled that we won; excited about it. But we have some things to work on to get ready for next week and hopefully we’ll be a bit more polished.”
Room for extra improvement was a common theme among gymnasts and coaches alike after Saturday’s meet, with the postseason beginning next weekend at the Chesterton Sectional, where all eight DAC teams will begin their postseason push.
“We counted three falls today, so we can do a whole lot better than that,” said Karen Barcelli coach of the defending state champion Portage squad.