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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Year of change


U-Hi senior Kayla McGahey goes through her beam routine recently. McGahey is one of the league's top gymnasts. 
 (Liz Kishimoto / The Spokesman-Review)
Steve Christilaw Correspondent

For those who look at a gymnastics tumbling run and merely see something they could never do themselves, the changes taking place this high school season aren’t going to mean a whole lot.

But for those who pay attention t

o how the sport is scored and judged, this will be a year of change.

“Every four years we, as a gymnastics community at the international level, come out with new rules,” top-level judge and University gymnastics coach Tracy Duncan explained. “Every eight years we get a complete revamping of virtually everything. As a judge, I have to retest on my judging credentials every four years.

“This year is the eighth year in that cycle, so everything changed.”

At the high school level, the changes take place in the way judges allocate points for different elements in a gymnast’s routine. In some cases, the degree of difficulty on some moves was lowered.

“What people are going to see are significantly lower scores,” Duncan said. “You’ll see team scores reflect that. You won’t see much of a change on bars and vault, but you will on beam and floor.”

Central Valley coach Kim Brunelle said the changes are making life a little more stressful this time of year.

“I don’t have kids who do club gymnastics, so right now we’re teaching kids moves as well as building routines,” she said. “Even with my upperclassmen, we’re having to go back and rechoreograph routines.

“So yes, the coach has a higher level of stress right now.”

Floor exercise routines, for example, must undergo some significant tweaking in order to earn scores similar to last year.

“What they basically did was over-value tumbling and under-value dance moves,” Brunelle said. “Some of the elements we used to be able to put in a routine to bump up the difficulty don’t work any more. You need to do some serious tumbling this year.”

Duncan and the Titans co-head coach, Karen Renner – both top-ranked judges when they aren’t coaching – had a head start and began work on new routines over the summer.

“I knew what was coming down the pike and I was able to make a few assumptions on what was going to happen at the high school level,” Duncan said. “That was good for us to know ahead of time. I was able to sit my kids down and prepare them. I told them that their routines start scoring much lower than they ever have before.”

Under any judging standard, both Central Valley and University are good bets to advance to the regional tournament and vie for a state meet berth. University, with returning regional all-around champion Kayla McGahey back, may be the favorite to win the Greater Spokane League title.

“Mead is going to be deep, but I’m not sure if they’re going to be as good as they were last year,” Brunelle said. “University has a lot of kids out – a lot of kids. I think Mead, U-Hi and us should be right there at the end.”

The Titans split their squad this season, adding a junior varsity squad under Miranda Collins and Katy House, who graduated just last year.

“We didn’t want to have to cut anyone,” Duncan said. “At the same time, we have a limited amount of space. This has worked out. Katy and Miranda have been doing a great job with some of our less-experienced gymnasts and that’s allowed the varsity a little more room to work on our routines.”

McGahey, back for her senior season, has struggled with a knee injury left over from club workouts over the summer. Senior Janelle Hoffmeister has been slowed recovering from a tonsillectomy. Seniors Brenda Lambert and Brittany Meuller each have revamped their floor routines while sophomores Tatiana Garcia and Taylor Vold each have stepped up and will compete full-time with the Titans varsity.

Junior Monica Marmolejo is a transfer from San Francisco who will compete on the varsity once she adjusts to the Inland Empire’s snow.

“She’s just freaked out over the snow,” Duncan laughed. “She’s complaining that it’s too cold and there’s too much snow. But she’ll be fine.

“I think she’s going to be a surprise. People around the league don’t know her and won’t know what to expect from her.”

At Central Valley, the Bears have a half-dozen gymnasts who will compete all-around, starting with senior Maya Morgan, who begins her fourth season on the varsity.

“The thing is, I have a good senior class, but not that many juniors,” Brunelle said. “In years past I think I had a few more specialists in individual events.”

Also back for the Bears are Maria Alderman and Amanda Brantley – the squad’s only juniors – who will compete all-around.

Two freshmen, Hayley Wetterhus and Brittney Szoke, also will compete all-around on the varsity.