Warriors Athlete of Week: Gymnast overcomes setbacks to qualify for state

Intense. Determined. Strong. That's Millie Klefsaas.

Hampered by injuries for much of her gymnastics season, the sophomore from Staples-Motley overcame physical setbacks to qualify for Saturday's Class 2A state meet on balance beam and the all-around competition.

"Millie's very strong, an intense competitor," Warriors coach Dave Maras said. "She had kind of a rollercoaster season early in the year. The first meet she hurt her back right away the first event but worked her way back. She was going full-strength by Christmas, then she had a concussion at Lakeville and missed about 3.5 weeks. She slowly came back in one event, the next meet two events and finally our last two meets she went all-around."

Klefsaas suffered her concussion, which she described as a "preventable injury," Jan. 10 at the Lakeville Invite.

"I tripped over a mat that was uneven and shouldn't have even been there. I fell back and hit my head on the wall after vault," she said. "I was like freaking out. I didn't know where I was. I started throwing up. It was not a good experience."

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"I tripped over a mat that was uneven and shouldn't have even been there. I fell back and hit my head on the wall after vault," she said. "I was like freaking out. I didn't know where I was. I started throwing up. It was not a good experience." - Millie Klefsaas

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In speaking with medical professionals, Klefsaas said they projected she would miss anywhere from 2-4 weeks of gymnastics.

"I was kind of freaking out that I couldn't do anything," she said. "With a concussion you're not supposed to be doing anything that's brain stimulating. With other injuries you can do some exercises. With a brain injury you not supposed to do anything. I was bummed about that.

"I missed about two weeks of practice. I did some basic stuff the third week. I came back one event at a time. I came back on bars first. Gradually I moved to vault and beam and ended up on floor exercise. I was thankful to be back."

In the Section 8-2A meet Feb. 14 at St. Michael-Albertville, Klefsaas scored 35.9 points to finish third in the all-around competition (a compilation of all four events) and qualified for her first trip to state as an all-arounder.

"I started all-around at the (St. Cloud) Tech meet the Monday before the conference meet," she said. "Two weeks before section was my first meet back in all-around. I didn't have my skills back completely. The conference meet a week ago Saturday was my first meet completely back."

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Millie Klefsaas

• Sport: Gymnastics
• High school: Staples-Motley
• Events: All-around
• Year: Sophomore
• Age: 15
• Height: 5-foot-5
• Career highlight: Qualifying for state gymnastics meet in 2014 and 2015
• Other sports: Track and field
• Grade-point average: 3.98
• Favorite class: Band
• Favorite food: Popsicles
• Favorite movie: "Miracle on Ice"
• Favorite TV show: "Psych"
• Favorite website: "YouTube"
• Future plans: Attend college, possibly compete in gymnastics or track
• Favorite gymnast: Former Olympian Shawn Johnson
• Parents: Kermit and Lorna Klefsaas

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Maras said the section meet wasn't Klefsaas' best of the season yet she was only a few 10ths of a point away from first place.

"Millie started slow," Maras said. "She came back and when she got on beam she was not coming off. She was determined. She's just a great competitor."

Klefsaas qualified for state on beam with a third-place 9.1, a score that was 1/10th of a point out of first.

"I fell on vault and bars, but I still scored well on vault," she said. "It was a rough meet for our team on vault. No one hit as well as we knew we could. On bars, I had a pretty good routine up until my dismount. I kicked out a little early and fell forward but I still scored all right.

"I knew if I pulled through the last two events and did my best I could possibly be going to state."

The state meet is in the Sports Pavilion at the University of Minnesota where she placed 14th on vault as a freshman.

"I think now I know how the meet runs and have a little better feel for how things go," Klefsaas said. "Last year,I competed in only one event. This year I'm in four. I'm excited to be there. The best of the best University of Minnesota gymnasts compete there so getting to compete where the best of the best compete is exciting."

Finally, a shout-out must be given to Klefsaas' parents, Kermit and Lorna, who drive her the approximate 60-mile round trip to Brainerd to practice and compete with the Warriors.

"They want me to be able to do something that I love and they're willing to make the sacrifice to make it happen," she said.

Other notable efforts:

• Kylee Heurung, girls basketball, scored 22 points and grabbed 10 rebounds vs. Willmar and added 34 points and eight rebounds vs. Moorhead.

• Katy Johnson, girls basketball, tallied 18 points and 13 rebounds vs. Willmar and 17 points and 11 rebounds vs. Moorhead.

• Preston Owen, Michael Bylander, Peder Smith, David Supinski and Matt Majerle, swimming, earned all-conference honors at the CLC meet.

Brock Saatzer & Randy Volkmuth, floor hockey, each scored five points vs. Wayzata/Minnetonka.

MIKE BIALKA may be reached at mike.bialka@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5861. Follow on Twitter at www.twitter.com/bertsballpark .