Brandle Shines, But Titans Fall A Bit Short U-Hi Freshman Gets Fourth With Strong Beam Performance
4A gymnastics
In a meet that certainly wasn’t University’s best, freshman Alisa Brandle at least made her balance beam routine her best.
Brandle highlighted the Titans’ fourth-place state finish with an 8.9 score on the beam, good for fourth and a spot in today’s individual finals of the State 4A gymnastics meet.
She followed that up with a personal-best 9.125 on the floor exercise at the Tacoma Dome, placing 15th, less than one-tenth of a point short of making the finals.
All that came after the Titans opened with their worst showing in their best event, the bars.
“I think we just got off to a tough start on the bars,” said U-Hi’s Stacey Heaton, who was named 4A coach of the year. “I don’t remember it being this tough. It’s real nerve-wracking coming over to this side of the state against these tough girls. Our girls were still competitive.”
The Titans bounced back on the beam. At regionals, U-Hi combined for four falls on the beam, but here they faltered one time fewer.
“We recovered miraculously,” said senior Tara Hulbert. “We didn’t do as good as we hoped, but we still did it. I think regionals was the highlight of our season. Just being here was a feeling of achievement for our team.”
The other Greater Spokane League athletes to make the individual event finals were senior Kacey Frederickson of Ferris and freshman Amber Baines of North Central. Frederickson tied for 10th on the floor with a score of 9.2. Baines’ 8.65 on the beam was good for seventh.
Behind all-around champion Celeste Montalvo, Sehome won the team title with 178.625 points. Puyallup was second with 173.4, followed by Inglemoor’s 172.55 and U-Hi’s 163.6.
Brandle’s uneven bars routine is one she’ll soon forget, but she’ll remember the floor.
“I’ve never done that bad on bars,” Brandle said. “I made up for it on the beam and floor.”
U-Hi was hurt by the foot injury to team leader Coleen Pierce. She suffered the injury at regionals during the vault.
“She’s been a tough competitor,” Heaton said. “She’s beaten the odds. She’s competing.”
Baines calmed her jitters enough to become the first state finalist from NC, according to coach Bob Litton.
“I don’t (usually) get nervous, but I was nervous,” Baines said. “I was wobbly. I was just glad to stay on. It’s pretty exciting.”
Hulbert finished 13th in the all-around competition with a score of 34.475. Emily Roberts of Central Valley was 15th with 34.35. Frederickson was in 21st at 33.025. U-Hi’s Vanessa Cordova was 23rd at 32.575 and Pierce was 24th at 32.35.