The Packer gymnasts put up a good fight against the defending Big Nine champs on the road, but Austin fell short 138.5-133.5 to Owatonna Thursday on the road.

Austin head coach Mark Raymond felt good about the meet as his team trailed by just a point going into the floor excercise and his squad scored 1.5 more points than its goal.

“We learned a lot about our team, we are a lot deeper than we have been in the past,” Austin head coach Mark Raymond said. “It appears that we have approximately seven to eight girls per event that could see varsity action this season.”

In vault, Sela Fadness led the team with a score of 9.15. Seventh grader Carolyn Hackel and Abby Snater each scored an 8.85 and seniors Katy Jorgenson and Sabrina Snater scored an 8.85 and 9.1, respectively.

In bars, Fadness scored an 8.85, and Sabrina Snater had an 8.4.

“This represents an increase in team score by a full point over last year’s average.” Raymond said. “It was nice to see that girls rewarded early in the season for the work we have been doing in the gym. If we continue to stress the event we could see a thirty-five point total on the bars before the end of the season.”

In beam, Abby Snater took third overall and scored an 8.65.

“Abby had solid performance tonight on beam, she managed to throw a nearly flawless routine,” Raymond said.

On the floor, Jorgenson scored an 8.5 and Fadness won the event with a 9.1.

Austin will host its eight-team winter warm-up invite at the YMCA Saturday at 11 a.m.