Gymnasts heading to state; girls hockey team falls short

New Prague's girls gymnastics team will return to the state Class A team tournament after a one year absence. The Trojans scored 144.45 points to win the Section 2A title by more than 14 points Friday night in Waseca. Mankato West was second with 130.125.

The Trojans also had many individual qualifiers. Melanie Deutsch and Brittany Ellanson finished 1-2 in the all-around competition, both topping 36 points. Deutsch and Ellanson also qualified in each event. Joining them were teammates Alysha Gareis on the vault, Brooke Ellanson and Gareis on the bars, and Jessica Hoffman on both the beam and floor. Fifteen of the 20 individual qualifying spots went to Trojan athletes.

The State Class A team meet is at 11 a.m. Friday at Roy Wilkins Auditorium in St. Paul. The individual meet is 11 a.m. Saturday.

Girl skaters fall to Farmington

Farmington ended New Prague's run of state tournament trips at three with a 3-2 win over the Trojans at Aldrich Arena in Maplewood Friday.

The Tigers' Erin Johnson scored all three goals, including the game-winner at 1:06 of the second period. That came less than a minute after Jenna Kilpatrick had tied the game. Farmington jumped to a 2-0 lead in the first, but Ashley Jones cut the lead to 2-1 before the intermission and Kilpatrick scored 31 seconds into the second to tie it. New Prague outshot the Tigers 27-20 and had many chances to tie it in the second and third periods, but Tiger Goalie Erin McNamara shut the door on the Trojans.

Farmington will face Section 1A champion Austin at 8 p.m. Wednesday at the Xcel Energy Center.