U-Hi Retains Balance Pierce, Cossette Make Titans Favorites To Retain Their District Gymnastics Title

One could say that Coleen Pierce has never received enough credit as a gymnast.

Because Pierce has competed on the same team as Kim Meyers and Kalie Cossette, she rarely encounters a similar kind of recognition.

Yet there’s a definite payoff to playing second or third fiddle on University’s team. It’s called winning.

Pierce, a junior, has never seen her team lose to a Greater Spokane League opponent in three varsity years.

U-Hi enters Friday’s District 8-AAA meet at North Central as the team to beat. Strength at the top is the reason; any of four or five U-Hi gymnasts is capable of placing near the top.

Meyers, a college freshman, led the Titans’ two previous unbeaten teams. Cossette is the senior leader this year and the team’s most consistent scorer.

Then there’s Pierce.

“I was always chasing (Meyers), but I felt there was no way I could beat her,” Pierce said. “I was never jealous, though. We push each other, but not to the point that we’re enemies of each other.”

“Coleen’s always been compared, unfortunately, to those other gymnasts a step ahead of her,” said Titans coach Stacey Heaton. “I want people to realize that she’s there also.”

The realization is coming. In early January, Pierce won her first league all-around in a GSL meet that brought together the teams with the top four records.

Two weeks later, Pierce uncorked a 9.3 floor exercise that allowed the Titans to nip Central Valley by .15 points.

Forty-eight hours later, at the Sehome all-around in Bellingham, Pierce finished fourth, a shade behind Cossette.

“That was a big thing for me,” Pierce said. “I think people are definitely learning there are gymnasts on this side of the state.”

Pierce left the hectic club gymnastics scene during her seventh-grade year. Twin sister Kelly, a volleyball and softball player at U-Hi, had dropped gymnastics three years earlier.

High school competition, a three-month commitment, was more palatable to Colleen. The chance to work for Heaton only enhances the situation.

“She was on my junior high team,” Heaton said. “She’s a great kid, always smiling or laughing. She has a strong work ethic and pulls a 4.0 (grade-point average) in class.”

Pierce, known as “Cocoa” to teammates, hopes to unveil a new vault at district. She said her district goal is to win an individual event. Floor might be her best bet, since she has scored 9.3 or better three times during league meets.

“She also has a great combination on the (balance) beam,” Heaton said. “It’s just starting to come together.” , DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: DISTRICT AT A GLANCE District AAA gymnastics meet, 6:30 p.m. Friday at North Central. Competitors: All GSL teams. At stake: Four team berths, 10 individual berths (not on qualifying teams) and three all-around berths (not on qualifying teams) to the Feb. 15 regional meet at University. Defending team champ: U-Hi. Defending individual champs: Tara Hulbert, U-Hi, uneven bars; Morgan Fransk, Ferris, vault. Top individual scores heading in (from GSL meets): All-around - Kacey Frederickson, Ferris, 36.25; Hulbert, 35.75; Coleen Pierce and Kalie Cossette, U-Hi, 35.7. … Balance beam - Cossette, 9.35; Frederickson 9.3; Pierce and Heather Salo, Mead, 9.15. … Bars - Hulbert, 9.4; Heidi McCullough, North Central, 9.15. … Vault - Frederickson, 9.2; Cossette 9.1. … Floor exercise - Frederickson, 9.5; Kim George, Ferris, 9.4; Pierce, 9.4.