Mead narrowly loses 3A/2A state gymnastics championship to Sammamish
BELLEVUE – It was a memorable night for Mead at the State 3A/2A gymnastics meet and terrific state debut for one of the Panthers’ sophomore talents, Dezlyn Lundquist.
Mead posted its second-best state finish in school history, placing second Friday night at Sammamish High School with 174.4 points, its second-highest score of the season. The Panthers trailed only Sammamish, which won its second straight title with 179.575 points.
Mead won the 4A title in 2012 when its current coach, Hanna Bjerkestrand, competed for the Panthers as a freshman.
“It’s cool,” Bjerkestrand said. “The girls worked hard. They earned it. They’re enjoying it.”
Lundquist placed fifth in all-around with a score of 36.425. Jacquie Bonnett, a Mt. Spokane junior, took seventh (35.95) and posted the top score of the night on balance beam (9.5). Junior Seema Borgmann of Sammamish won the all-around title at 37.85.
The Panthers picked a good night to have one of their best meets of the season.
“It went really well,” said Bjerkestrand, in her fourth year as Mead head coach. “We had a goal to come in and be strong in all four events.
“In our league meets, we’ve done kind of well in three events, and there’s always one where we didn’t quite get it together. But we had four really successful events today, and it was awesome.”
A teamwide confident mindset, Bjerkestrand said, contributed to Mead’s strong showing.
“We had good energy,” she said. “We had a team talk last week about what our goals were, about coming in with a little more fight, a little more ‘Grrrr.’ I think they stepped up to that challenge. They knew there was lots of good competition over here, and they just competed.”
Other than one misstep on beam that led to a fall, Lundquist was pleased with her first state outing.
“I was able to go with things, just flow,” said the former Level 9 club gymnast, who made the switch to high school competition this season.
The daughter of a gymnastics coach, Lundquist has been training for 14 of her 16 years.
She tied with Borgmann for the third-best score in floor exercise (9.525).
“Floor was awesome,” she said. “I’m good at tumbling and it’s fun to flip and do tricks and show off.”
“She has good presence,” Bjerkestrand said. “She always throws a little wink in on floor, which I think Is cool.”
Other Mead placings included Grace Martinsen, vault 15th; Avery Seidel, beam, 12th; Tabitha Pierce, uneven bars, 14th; and Abagail Fielding, 16th, on bars.
Bonnett capped her beam routine with a roundoff full dismount, a new skill for her.
“Honestly,” Bonnett said, “I just pretended it was practice and kind of hoped for the best.”