U-Hi Floors Foes, Rallies To Win Crown
Gymnastics
After trailing rival Central Valley by more than a point going into the final event, University was able to come back with a strong floor performance to take first place in the District 8 AAA gymnastics championships at North Central Friday.
“The thing about my girls is that they knew they had to pick it up on the floor,” Titans coach Stacey Heaton said.
The Greater Spokane League champion Titans had some problems on the beam, usually their strongest event, when Kim Meyers fell off and Kalie Cossette fell on her dismount.
However, both redeemed themselves in their floor routines, scoring 9.5 and 9.3, respectively.
Meyers’ 9.5 on the floor was a personal best and she went on to take first place in the all-around with another personal best of 35.9.
“We’re definitely happy,” Meyers said. “We’re looking forward to state.”
Heaton is also looking forward to state and is proud of her team’s performance.
“We made so many goals tonight,” Heaton said. “Our goals were to remain undefeated, win tonight and to break 170 on our team score.”
The Titans not only broke 170, but also broke 171, finishing with a 171.70.
“This didn’t fall in their lap,” Heaton said. “They worked very hard to get where they’re at. It takes a lot of dedication.”
In addition to being hard-working, Heaton also said her team is a lot of fun to coach.
“This has been one of the most fun teams I’ve ever coached,” she said. “Our team is extremely close this year. We’re going to have a lot of fun at state.”
CV’s Michelle Gharst put in a great effort, taking first place on the bars with a 9.3 and second place in the all-around.
Teammate Angie Giroux took first on the vault with a 9.0 and third in the allaround and also gave a good floor performance, taking second place with a 9.35.
Mead’s Kelly Heron put in a strong beam performance to tie U-Hi’s Amber Hulbert for first place with a 9.05.
Along with U-Hi and CV, third-place Mead and fourth-place North Central will advance to the regionals, the last step before state.
Ferris took fifth place after competing without defending district allaround champion Liz Miller, who was out with an injury.
The regional championships are at Pasco on Feb. 11 at 2 p.m.