U-Hi Holds Off Ferris, But Not Without A Scare

GSL gymnastics

While waiting for the official announcement Thursday, University gymnastics coach Stacey Heaton wandered by the scorer’s table to inquire about Ferris’ margin of victory.

When told her Titans had actually won by two-tenths of a point, Heaton insisted the news couldn’t be correct.

Heaton’s parents, always accurate in their score-keeping, calculated Ferris winning by a tiny margin.

Trouble was, two matters had occurred during the Greater Spokane League four-way meet at Ferris that nobody sitting in the crowd could have known.

First, a Ferris performer on the balance beam had four-tenths of a point deducted for leaving out an element in her routine. Second, when Morgan Fransk completed her bars routine for Ferris, her score was flashed to the crowd as 8.5 rather than the accurate 8.05.

So by the razor-thin margin of 171.0 to 170.8, U-Hi (9-0) won its 23rd consecutive GSL four-way and Ferris (8-1) slipped into second place.

“I don’t think they’re disappointed,” Bill Christianson said of his Saxons girls, who are 26-4 in the GSL under his reign all losses to U-Hi. “They’ll be ecstatic tomorrow.”

Ecstatic, that is, because U-Hi entered as a big favorite, given that its team scores this year (166.2, 170.2) were significantly better than the Saxons’.

“I think we’re ready for the Christmas break,” Heaton said.

U-Hi saved its day with its final event, the vault. Kalie Cossette (9.05), Tara Hulbert (9.0) and Lindsay Brandle (8.95) swept the event with tricky maneuvers.

Ferris ended the night with energized floor routines, each eliciting louder responses from the partial crowd. When Kacey Frederickson finished with her winning 9.5, moments after Kim George’s 9.4, it appeared the Saxons owned the meet. Ferris put up five of the top seven scores on the floor.

“We have to work on our floor routines,” Heaton said. “Ferris beat us fair and square there.”

Frederickson put on a show for the home crowd, scoring a career-best 36.25 to remain unbeaten in all-around competitions. U-Hi’s Cossette, who also entered perfect in all-arounds, finished third (35.25), behind teammate Coleen Pierce (35.55).

Cossette won her specialty, the vault (9.05), but a recent bout with the flu left her out of the top three in the other events.

Frederickson also picked up her third win of the season on the beam (9.3), which Ferris dominated with four of the top six scores.

Ferris’ Kim George won the bars (8.7) with her best score of the year. Second-place Brandle (8.65) lost the event for the first time this year.

“By the end of the year, U-Hi will be scoring 176 or 177,” Christianson said. “We probably have four more points in us. If we break 173, that’s with angels on the beam.”

Shadle Park (1-8) outscored Lewis and Clark (0-9) for third place.

In the night’s other four-way, Marisa Deehr won the beam (8.85) and Lindsay Linerud placed second in the all-around (32.95) to guide Central Valley (7-2) over Mead, North Central and host Rogers (2-7).

Heather Salo’s win on the floor (9.1) helped Mead (4-5) to second place. Heidi McCullough won the bars (9.15) and all-around (33.2), and Shelly Betts won the vault (7.85) for third-place NC (5-4).

, DataTimes