ESCANABA — The Escanaba gymnasts showed plenty of depth across the board here Saturday, earning the Elks Invitational title with 129.95 points.

Runner-up Bark River-Harris finished with a school-record 125.8, followed by Esky II at 77.8.

“We have a lot of depth,” Esky coach Theresa Pascoe said. “I think that was the difference today. Bark River-Harris has a nice team. They have a lot of skill and talent. They’ve come a long way in a short time. This is my 40th year of coaching and we’re finally at a point where we can compete downstate. It was nice to be able to go downstate two weeks ago. I think that helped us a lot.

“Several girls on the Esky II team had their best scores. That’s very important for them. They’re going to be stepping into bigger roles after our seniors graduate.”

Esky senior Sophie Lehto, who’s still battling a high ankle sprain, gained top honors in all-around with 35.4 points.

She was followed by BR-H (Iron Mountain) junior Lucy Baumgartner (34.55) and Esky sophomore Sophie Hill (32.55).

“It was a good day,” Lehto said. “Bark River-Harris has been doing real good lately. They’re improving a lot. My ankle is doing better, but it’s still not 100 percent.”

Lehto won floor exercise with 9.05 points and balance beam at 8.7 and placed second on beam (9.15) and uneven bars (8.5).

“Beam is very difficult and terrifying,” she added. “Practice is the only way to overcome it. That built my confidence a lot. I felt more comfortable doing that at home. I had to shake off some rust. I also have to work on beam and bars.”

Baumgartner earned top honors in vault (9.2) and bars (8.6) and was runner-up on beam (8.3).

“Bars went pretty good,” she said. “I was a little wobbly at times, but got through it. I definitely did better than in the first meet. I’m definitely happy with that. It went a lot smoother than in practice.”

Hill placed third on beam (7.95) and fourth on vault (8.65) and bars (7.3).

“It was nice to have Sophie Lehto on floor again and Sophie Hill is trying to brush up on her routines,” Pascoe said. “Hailee (Cloutier) and Hayden’s (Turchin) scores will be higher. Their tumbling was a little sidetracked today. Some of the girls who were in the school play just started finishing their routines this week. Lily Benetti was fifth in all-around which is okay. She’ll be working her way up there.”

Gladstone senior Kristy Karl, competing for BR-H through a co-op venture, placed fourth in all-around at 31.55 and Benetti had 31.5 points.

“It definitely helped us to go downstate,” BR-H coach Alex Zelenak said. “The girls know what’s coming.

“I saw improvement from the last meet. Lucy taking first on beam and vault, we’re excited about that. I’m just excited to see the new kids compete. This is absolutely a learning experience for them. They tried hard.”

The Eskymos and Broncos travel downstate for Saturday’s Walled Lake Invitational.

“I think we had a great meet,” Pascoe said. “I think it went very smoothly. We’ve always been strong on vault.

“It’s nice and quick and not very hard on your body. Sophie (Lehto) was very nervous on beam. Her injury is taking a toll on her. She had to scale back a little, but her routine was clean. Our beam scores were good. I’m very proud of the effort the girls gave. Vickie Mantela was a little disappointed in herself. She had one fall, but I’m proud of the way she fought through it.”

Box score

All-around — 1, Lehto, E, 35.4; 2, Baumgartner, BR-H, 34.55; 3, Hill, E, 32.55; 4, K. Karl, BR-H, 31.55; 5, Benetti, E, 31.5.

Vault — 1, Baumgartner, BR-H, 9.2; 2, Lehto, E, 9.15; 3, Turchin, E, 8.85; 4, Hill, E, 8.65; 5, Benetti, E, 8.55.

Floor exercise — 1, Lehto, E, 9.05; 2, M. Karl, BR-H, 8.9; 3, Hill, E, 8.65; 4, Cloutier, E, 8.6; 5, Turchin, E, 8.55.

Balance beam — 1, Lehto, E, 8.7; 2, Baumgartner, BR-H, 8.3; 3, Hill, E, 7.95; 4, Turchin, E, 7.85; 5, Benetti, E, 7.6.

Uneven bars — 1, Baumgartner, BR-H, 8.6; 2, Lehto, E, 8.5; 3, K. Karl, BR-H, 7.8; 4, Hill, E, 7.3; 5, Benetti, 7.0.