JCHS tops Tri, Lincoln

A strong start and a strong finish are almost locks for the Patriots. Now they just want to improve on the events in between.

Katie Snyder's vault and Nadlie Runyon's floor exercise routine capped big scores on both events Monday to help lead the Jay County High School gymnastics team to victory in its home opener.

The Patriots scored 99.45 points to finish ahead of visiting Tri Titans (81.325) and Lincoln Golden Eagles (74.4).

"I think they're doing well," said JCHS coach Lora Schlosser, whose team's only dual-meet loss this year came to No. 12 Carroll. "Their scores are slowing sliding up.

"We saw some improvements (tonight). Katie's vault score is creeping up. Nadlie's floor score is creeping up. We're still struggling on beam, and we struggle on bars."

Snyder, a freshman, recorded the best vault score of her young career, landing her piked Tsukahara for a 9.4. She led the Patriots to an impressive team score of 26.65 on the event as Kristen Ainsworth added an 8.65 and Lexie Rowles chipped in an 8.6.

All six JCHS competitors on the event scored 8.4 or higher.

"Her pike vault, she just started throwing it the last two meets," said Schlosser of Snyder, who also won the all-around competition by 0.075 points over points over Runyon with a score of 33.375. "She's doing really well there."

Runyon capped the night with her outstanding floor exercise performance, nailing all of her tumbling passes on the way to a 9.35. She was just one tenth of a point short of her career-best score.

Melynda Brackman performed a full twist at the end of her first tumbling pass to finish second on the event with an 8.25, and Snyder was third at 8.15.

"She hit all over her bonus high superiors," said Schlosser of Runyon's floor routine. "She hit her double full, she hit her front lay-out full. She hit her big skills.

"(Brackman is) just working in her full. She throws some big dance elements. I think she's going to have a good, solid floor routine by the end of the season."

While the Patriots' scores were typically high on the opening and closing events of the night, only one athlete managed to clear the 8.0 mark on the uneven bars and balance beam respectively.

Kristen Ainsworth turned in one of only two no-fall routines for JCHS on the balance beam to win with an 8.1. Snyder was second at 7.625, and Runyon finished third with a 7.5.

Eliminating falls would help see the balance beam scores take an immediate leap, as the team totaled seven falls among six competitors Monday.

Snyder was the only Patriot to clear the 8.0 mark on the uneven bars, scoring an 8.2 to earn the victory. Runyon was second at 7.9, and Ainsworth placed third with a 7.725.

Schlosser said she expects scores to improve on the beam as the season rolls along, and is just looking for a bit more consistency on the bars.

"We're not big bar swingers, but if we can just get three solid 8s, that would be a big improvement for us on bars," she said.

Viking Invite

VALPARAISO - The Patriots finished third Saturday at the Viking Invite hosted by Valparaiso.

The Patriots posted their second-highest score of the season with a 100.45 to finish behind the No. 3 host Vikings (110.95) and Hagerstown (104.4) in the seven-team event.

Senior Nadlie Runyon turned in the best event finish for JCHS as she took second on the floor exercise with a 9.25. She was also seventh on the balance beam at 8.3 and the all-around at 33.85.

Katie Snyder placed third with a 9.35 on the vault, and was sixth in the all-around with a 34.0. Kristen Ainsworth placed 10th on the uneven bars with an 8.4.[[In-content Ad]]