Year ends at regional

HUNTINGTON — Hopes of the Patriots sending a gymnast to the state finals for the sixth time since 2003 came to an end Friday night.
The Jay County High School gymnastics team finished fifth in a field of six teams at the Huntington North regional with 97.325 points. It’s top individual finish was a 10th-place mark from Nikita Gundersen.
The top two teams and top six individuals in each event earned trips to the state finals, which will be held a week from today at Ball State University.
“I don’t think the girls had their best performances,” said JCHS coach Lora Schlosser, whose team’s score was its lowest of the season.
“Dwenger is one of the top teams in the state, so I don’t know if that’s a little intimidating and made them a little more nervous. Or maybe the season has just taken its toll.”
Top-ranked Bishop Dwenger won its 15th regional title, topping the field by more than two points at 108.625. No. 6 Northrop earned the other state berth, edging the host Vikings by just 0.125 points for second place.
It was a heart-breaking night for Huntington North, which had the top team score on two events — bars (25.55) and beam (27.15) — and even led the No. 1 team in the state at the mid-point of the meet. It had a chance to become the first team to advance to the state finals from the Muncie Central sectional since Marion in 1989, but gave up more than two points to both Dwenger and Northrop on the floor to finish third with a season-high 106.175.
Huntington North’s Jessica Baker took the all-around competition with 37.35 points, and won individual event titles with a 9.25 on the uneven bars and a 9.5 on the balance beam. Brittany Trahin of Bishop Dwenger took the top spot on both the floor exercise (9.725) and vault (9.6).
“Coming here and watching and seeing some of this high-caliber gymnastics hopefully will get them revved up and thinking of some skills that they can work on this summer,” said Schlosser.
Jay County’s best chance at sending another gymnast to the state finals was on the beam, where Gundersen entered as the No. 3 seed after her runner-up finish at the sectional meet.
The Norwegian foreign exchange student got off to a bit of a rough start as she had to fight to stay on the beam on her mount. She still turned in a no-fall effort, holding on to her side-somi, but took several deductions for wobbles and finished with an 8.55 for 10th place.
“Her mount, I think she kind of rushed a little bit,” said Schlosser of Gundersen, who posted a career-best 9.175 at the sectional. “She came down a little too fast, and lost control. She probably lost at least three tenths on that.
“She had little body checks, wobbling here and there. Her side-somi, she did it, she made it, she got the (two-tenths) bonus credit for it, but then she also lost three to four tenths in deductions.”
Gundersen was also the team’s leading scorer on the bars with a 7.975 for 11th place and floor with an 8.45 for 14th. She was 23rd on the vault at 8.475.
Kristen Ainsworth, a senior, was solid in the final meet of her career, putting up the No. 2 score for Jay County on all four events. He best effort came on the bars, where she was just five hundredths of a point behind Gundersen with a 7.925 for 13th place. She added an 8.55 on the vault, 8.1 on the floor and 7.8 on the beam.
“She was happy,” said Schlosser. “I think she was pleased with bars. She got a handstand credit, which she’s been struggling all year to get.
“Her beam she changed a little bit, brought in more difficulty. She nailed all that, she just fell on another skill. She was pleased with that. She knows it was a good routine.”
Senior Melynda Brackman also closed out her career at the regional meet, although she was limited to competing on just the balance beam because of an ankle injury she suffered in January. She had one fall in her routine on the way to a 6.15.
“She did pretty well,” said Schlosser. “She fell on her full turn, which is a little frustrating for her because … she’s made them all week. … But overall her routine was pretty clean.”
Tasya Smith, a freshman, joined Gundersen and Ainsworth in scoring on all four events, and led the Patriots with her effort on the vault. She earned an 8.625 for her half-on, full-off and finished in 18th place.
She added a no-fall balance beam routine for a 7.35 on the beam, and added scores of 7.9 on the floor and 7.6 on the bars.
“She got connections on her tumbling skills, which is good,” said Schlosser of Smith’s beam routine. “She hasn’t got connection all year. She proved to be strong on beam.
“We all finished strong on vault. We did what we normally do there, so that was good.”
Also competing for the Patriots Friday were Cortney Myers (vault – 8.3, bars – 6.55) and Shelby Pryor (floor – 7.85).[[In-content Ad]]