Prep athletes of the week: Forest Lake gymnast Claire O'Gorman comes close and wins, too

CLAIRE O'GORMAN

The hardest part was the waiting.

After the first session of the Class 2A gymnastics state meet, O'Gorman was leading the all-around competition with a score of 37.85 and had helped the Rangers to the top of the team standings.

Now they had to wait — for six hours —until the results of the second session came through.

Would those leads stand?

"I was so anxious," said O'Gorman, a senior. "Waiting to see if things would stay the same or if I'd drop at all."

Unfortunately for O'Gorman and her teammates, Sartell was a bit better, taking home both the all-around and team title.

"I was a little disappointed, but I was happy with my meet," she said.

She did win the floor exercise with a 9.65

"That was exciting," she said. "If you would have told me what was going to happen before the meet, I wouldn't have believed it."

ELLY BAHR

The senior guard is known for airtight defense and long-range shooting. Both were on display as the Elks beat Rogers and St. Michael-Albertville to win the Class 4A, Section 8 title. Bahr led the team in scoring with 43 points combined in the two games.

The senior 132-pounder capped his career with a 3-2 overtime victory over previously-undefeated Zach Hanson of Lakeville North for his fourth state championship. He's one of just 30 wrestlers in state history to win four or more.

KAYLEY CRAWFORD

The Harvard-bound senior forward provided the necessary offense for the Skippers in a 2-1 victory over Alexandria in the Class 2A state quarterfinals. She scored both of her team's goals, including one in overtime to them advance to the semifinals.

LAMAR GRAYSON

The senior guard exploded in the second half, scoring 29 of his 37 points, to help the Spartans rally from a 10-point halftime deficit to defeat previously unbeaten South St. Paul 93-90 in the Class 3A, Section 3 final.

The sophomore 182-pounder completed an undefeated season with a technical fall, a pin and a 3-2 overtime victory over Gabe Nagel of Little Falls for his second consecutive state championship. He finished 37-0 and is 91-1 in the past two years.

GARRETT SCHIFSKY

The flashy 5-9 senior forward had a pure hat trick — three consecutive goals, two coming on the power play — to stake the Huskies to a 3-0 lead en route to a 3-2 victory over Grand Rapids is the Class 2A, Section 7 final.

JIM PAULSEN

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