By Bruce Karnick

[email protected]

Club sports are a very popular option for area athletes. One such athlete, Linnea Ester Hedin a junior at Hastings High School trains at and competes for Great Northern Gymnastics in St. Paul. This past weekend, Hedin travelled to Bettendorf, Iowa to compete in the 2021 USA Gymnastics Regional Competition. This competition includes gymnasts from Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Wisconsin, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota.

USA gymnastics has ten different levels of competition. One through five ends at the state level, six through ten can continue to a regional competition and only levels nine and ten can continue to the national level. Hedin competed in the level eight competition.

Hedin won her age group with an allaround score of 36.80. As part of that score, she was the vault champion, producing her highest score of the season, a 9.525. She placed second on beam with a 9.2, fourth on floor with a 9.225 and fifth on uneven bars with a 8.85.

Linnea Hedin, a junior at Hastings, adorned with her hardware won at the 2021 USA Gymnastics Regional competition in Bettendorf, Iowa. Photo Courtesy of Lisa Hedin