Prep athletes of the week: Champlin Park 8th-grader is youngest gymnastics all-around champ

As word started to spread that Neu, a 13-year-old 8th-grader at Jackson Middle School in Champlin, had won the Class 2A all-around championship, a question arose: Is the uber-talented Neu the youngest all-around champion in state history?

Many remembered that Mahtomedi's Mindy Myhre, Melrose's Katie Niehaus (who is now the Melrose coach) and Sauk Centre's Laura Blank all won all-around titles as freshmen. But an eighth-grader?

A check of state meet records was inconclusive – the Minnesota State High School League doesn't record the year in school for gymnastics winners. Star Tribune records, however, confirmed what was already assumed: No gymnast in state meet history has performed as well at such young age. Neu took first place in the vault (9.8) and floor exercise (9.75) and won the all-around with a score of 38.5, .025 ahead of runner-up Megan Haug, a senior from Edina.

Neu knew she had performed well, but said she was surprised when her name was announced. "I had thought about it but I didn't know if would actually happen," she said. "There are so many great girls. Megan was so good and she came out of [club] a level 10 two years ago. I thought she was going to win."

The junior guard had the game of a lifetime in a 91-76 victory over South St. Paul. Binley scored a school-record 53 points, bumping up his season scoring average nearly two full points, from 17.6 to 19.4 points per game.

The freshman forward had a breakout regular season with 16 goals and 37 points. She continued her strong play in the Class 1A state tournament, leading the Bears in scoring with two goals and four assists as they won their second consecutive state championship.

The Hornets finished season with the first state championship in team history, cruising past Blaine 4-0 in the Class 2A finals. Fidler, a junior, led the team in scoring with four goals and an assist and posted a team-leading plus/minus of plus-8.

Quite a week for the senior 182-pounder. Huntley committed to wrestle at Wis.-Eau Claire, then won the 182-pound championship at the Class 3A, Section 4 meet. He defeated No. 3-ranked Rowan Morgan 11-9 in overtime in final, improving to 34-1.

The senior capped her first and only year of high school gymnastics in the best possible fashion, winning two events — the vault (9.825) and balance beam (9.55)— en route the Class 1A championship-winning all-around score of 38.6.

The senior guard — a strong candidate for Star Tribune metro player of the year – scored a season-high 46 points and grabbed 14 rebounds in an 87-77 victory over DeLaSalle. In three games overall, Wright had 83 points, 30 assists and 28 rebounds.

JIM PAULSEN

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