Mead places second
TACOMA – Mead’s gymnastics team had a simple goal entering the State 4A championships at the Tacoma Dome Exhibition Hall Friday morning, but it wasn’t as simple as it sounded.
The Panthers just wanted to perform clean routines.
“We just talked about our routines,” Mead coach Amanda Workman said. “The girls had goals – there were skills the girls wanted to hit.”
Whether that translated into good scores or a high finish was irrelevant for a variety of reasons.
One reason is that the Panthers made a huge jump last week, scoring 173.025 points in the state-qualifying regional meet, and to do that in consecutive competitions is a lot to ask. Another is the fact that Mead is the only final-four team that has to overnight at state. Finally, Workman said, her squad doesn’t use all of the same equipment that is used at West Side meets.
None of that deterred the Panthers. Led by senior Tonya Turner, Mead finished a close second to heavily favored Woodinville with a score of 173.0
“I’m pleased,” Workman said. “The girls did a nice job. They accomplished their goals, we (almost) had our score and a lot of girls had personal records, which is nice to do at state.”
Turner led the way, advancing to today’s individual finals for the top 10 in three events – vault, uneven bars and floor exercise.
“I’m surprised,” Turner said. “This is awesome. Out of the three years I’ve been to state this is the first time I’ve qualified for finals. My goal was hoping the team hit everything and had a good meet.”
The top 10 advance to the individual finals. Team scores don’t become official until today because if a top-10 competitor does not return for the individual competition, their score is erased from the team.
Mead led after three events, but the Panthers finished on the vault, where it is harder to produce high scores than on the balance beam, which is where Woodinville finished. The Falcons, trailing by .475, came through and finished with 175.075 points.
Prior to regionals, Mead’s season-best scores were in the lower 160s. Part of the reason for that is Turner was out with an injury. She returned for regional and finished second in the all-around, which gave the Panthers a big boost in the team score.
Turner refused to enter the competition thinking she had to score big again.
“My personal goal was to have my best meet ever,” she said. “I think I did. I had a great meet. It was tons of fun. That is reflected somewhat in the score, but I felt I did my best regardless of the scores.”
Turner is third in the vault (9.475), ninth in floor exercise (9.625) and 10th on the bars (9.0). The only other Greater Spokane League competitor to reach the finals is University’s Tabitha Ward, 10th in floor (9.6).
No GSL team qualified for the team competition at the 3A level. No GSL 3A individuals qualified for today’s event finals.