Gymnasts cruise to victory

The win streak continued Thursday for the Patriots. But they’re not happy with where their scores have been this week.
The 12th-ranked host Jay County High School gymnastics team swept the top three spots on every event and stayed undefeated on the season — its last dual meet loss came on Jan. 28, 2012 — but saw its score dip below 100 as it posted a 99.475. The Lincoln Golden Eagles didn’t field a full lineup and finished with 57.99 points, and individual gymnast Katie Cox of the Anderson Prep Jets totaled an all-around score of 25.95.
“The whole team, we were kind of bummed out,” said sophomore Lizzy Schoenlein, who led the Patriots to the victory with wins on the floor exercise, balance beam and uneven bars. “Beam, nobody could really stay on. Our team score was four points lower than what we expect it to be. There’s always room for more improvement. I think it’s one more stepping stone to keep getting better.”
JCHS opened the season with a 102.95 in a Jan. 15 win over Heritage before seeing its scores dip this week. The team totaled a 100.125 Tuesday against Marion.
“It wasn’t our greatest. We definitely have to step up our game for this weekend,” said coach Lana Kahlig, whose team travels to Northwestern on Saturday for a seven-team invitational that includes sixth-ranked Logansport. “The girls were a little tired, I think … Three meets a week definitely is going to be hard for us.
“It’s definitely a learning experience for the girls. They have to make sure they don’t wear themselves out.”
Although the team score wasn’t where the Patriots would like it to be, they were able to open and close the meet with some highlights.
Miranda Hibbard came up big for JCHS on the vault, earning her first career victory.
The junior hit her first attempt — a quarter on, three-quarters off — and then decided to take a chance and try a new vault she had just started working on at practice a day earlier. It was a good risk, as she stuck the quarter on, one-and-one-quarter off for a career-best 8.85 and the win.
“I started on it at practice yesterday and only did two of them. And then I did it during the warm-up and it was very bad,” said Hibbard, whose previous best was an 8.75. “But then I did my easier vault and landed that perfectly, so I said, ‘OK, I’m just going to try it.’ And when I tried it, it was really good.
“It’s really exciting knowing that I’ve just been improving.”
After the team struggled on beam, they were able to close out strong as Courtney Miles and Schoenlein each cleared the 9.0 mark on the floor exercise.
Both turned in strong tumbling passes finishing with full twists, and Schoenlein said she was pleased that she was able to improve the dance portion of her routine. She won the event with a 9.2, and Miles, a freshman, was second as she matched her career best with a 9.05.
“Lizzy did an outstanding job on floor today,” said Kahlig. “She performed great.”
Schoenlein’s other wins came with scores of 8.275 on the uneven bars and 8.25 on the balance beam. Miles was the runner-up on the bars with an 8.075 and the beam with a 7.8.
Senior Malarie Houck was second on the vault with an 8.8 and third on the floor with 8.275. Maddie Strausburg picked up a pair of third-place finishes on the vault (8.5) and bars (7.425), and Hibbard was third on the beam (6.975).

Junior varsity
Sydnee Lee racked up three victories as the Patriots were uncontested on the evening.
Lee’s top score came on the vault, where she posted an 8.1. She added wins with scores of 8.1 on the vault and 5.2 on the bars.
Erica Swingley picked up the other victory with a career-best 6.225 on the beam. She was also the runner-up on the floor with a 7.475.
Leearah Eldridge was the runner-up on the vault (7.85) and beam (4.5). McKenna Daniels tied for second with Eldridge on the vault and was also third on the floor with a 7.125.