JC tops Tri, CCL

STRAUGHN — A balanced effort keyed the Patriots Monday as they kept their undefeated dual-meet season in tact.
Three different Jay County High School gymnasts won events as the team, which moved up one spot in the state poll, posted 99.3 points to defeat the Cambridge City Lincoln Golden Eagles (81.95) and the host Tri Titans (62.4).
The squad also competed in Saturday’s Viking Invitational at Valparaiso, finishing fifth out of seven teams with 99.675 points.
JCHS was voted 17th in this week’s Indiana High School Gymnastics Coaches’ poll, finishing in a tie with Portage with nine points. LaPorte and Franklin Central are tied for 15th, and Bloomington South came in at 19th.
Defending state champion Valparaiso is No. 1 with 90 points, followed by Bishop Dwenger (84). Carroll, which lost to the Patriots Jan. 10, moved up to No. 6 after being 15th last week.
Katie Snyder, Tasya Smith and Nikita Gundersen each picked up event wins to lead the Patriots to their victory over Tri and Lincoln.
Snyder, a sophomore, led Jay County with her score of 9.15 to win the vault competition. She was also first on the floor exercise with an 8.85, placed third on the balance beam with a 7.5 and scored for the team with a 7.75 on the uneven bars.
Tasya Smith also scored for the Patriots on all four events, with her best effort coming with an 8.1 on the uneven bars for first place. The freshman was the runner-up on the vault with an 8.7, tied for third with Snyder on the balance beam and was third with an 8.05 on the floor.
Norwegian foreign exchange student Nikita Gundersen picked up the other victory for JCHS with her 8.2 to win the balance beam. She was the runner-up on both the floor (8.3) and bars (7.95).
Kristen Ainsworth, a senior, added a second-place finish with an 8.1 on the balance beam and a third-place effort with an 8.65 on the vault.
At Valparaiso Saturday, the Patriots finished behind No. 1 Valparaiso (110.075), No. 12 Hagerstown (103.825), sectional rival Huntington North (101.9) and Lafayette Jefferson (99.875).
Snyder led Jay County in three out of four events, including a fourth-place finish on the floor with a 9.15. She was sixth on the vault with a 9.0, 10th on the bars at 8.175 and added an 8.075 on the beam.
She posted a score of 34.4 in the all-around competition to finish in fifth place.
Gundersen placed seventh on the floor with an 8.8, and was also the team’s leading scorer with an 8.425 on the beam. Kristen Ainsworth finished with a total of 31.1 for eighth place in the all-around.[[In-content Ad]]