Titans Slip Past Tough Bears
Central Valley and University agreed on a crucial point as officials tallied up final scores Thursday.
Both had an inkling that CV had ended U-Hi’s streak of 31 consecutive wins in Greater Spokane League gymnastics meets.
But official numbers proved otherwise, as U-Hi (17-0) edged the Bears 162.675 to 162.15 before a packed house at Ferris.
“We were only, say, 1-1/2 points ahead going into the beam,” U-Hi coach Stacey Heaton said of the final event. “And every time I looked over there, (CV’s) vault scores were higher than our beam.”
U-Hi pulled out the win when Alisa Brandle, Vanessa Cordova and Coleen Pierce scored well on the beam. Brandle, a freshman, tied CV’s Emily Roberts for the beam title with an 8.75 and finished second in the all-around competition at 34.35.
“On the beam I was really nervous because the girl before me was a little shaky,” said Brandle, whose sister Lindsey won the Region IV all-around title last year but opted for club gymnastics this season.
CV (15-3) calculated that it had won the meet by one point, but hadn’t figured a few U-Hi points.
“CV did so well tonight,” Brandle said. “They’re an awesome team. I don’t know how we got by them.”
The main reason, Heaton said, was U-Hi’s strong showing on the uneven bars. Tara Hulbert, runner-up to Roberts’ dynamic 9.2, Pierce and Brandle placed in the top six on the bars. Pierce was limited in practice during the week after slipping off the bars at Shadle Park Jan. 8.
Senior Kacey Frederickson of the host Saxons (13-4) remained unbeaten in GSL all-around competitions, but by the skin of her teeth. Frederickson scored a night-best 9.25 on her final event, the floor exercise, to edge Brandle 34.45 to 34.35.
Frederickson didn’t compete last week after suffering a concussion while practicing on the vault during Christmas break.
“I had three or four practices before this meet, so I didn’t feel like I was totally 100 percent,” she said. Ferris scored 159.5 points.
Roberts, recovering from a broken foot, couldn’t compete on the floor but averaged 8.6 for her three events. CV teammate Lindsay Linerud started slowly with a 7.2 on the bars, but scored 9.0 on the floor and ended with a winning 8.65 on the vault.
North Central (8-8) scored 140.25, with Amber Baines tied for seventh in the all-around and Heidi McCullough placing third on bars.
U-Hi ends its league season at CV in two weeks.
“CV’s going to be nipping at our heels again,” Heaton said. “I don’t think they (the Bears) realize how the pressure starts wearing you down.”
At Lewis and Clark, Mary Bass finished second in every event but the bars to guide Shadle Park (10-7) over Mead (7-11), Rogers (6-12), the host Tigers (1-16) and Mount Spokane (1-17). Mead’s Marki Stewart won the all-around, the vault and the floor.
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