Hill, Patriots have year end at sectional

FORT WAYNE — Halle Hill was aiming to take the next step.

She bolstered her routine in hopes of advancing to regional.

Her career ended Saturday.

Hill, a Jay County High School senior, and the Patriot gymnastics team had their season close Saturday in the IHSAA sectional meet at Concordia Lutheran.

“We knew this year with some of our girls being beginners we weren't going to have a huge team score,” said JCHS coach Jill Ranly. “So that was kind of anticipated and it wasn't really our focus this year. It was more individual scores.”

Homestead repeated as sectional champions with its score of 109.925. Bishop Dwenger totaled 109.05 to finish second, and Carroll was third with 105.9 points.

Jay County, which did not have a full score on the uneven bars, had 82.05 for 10th out of 11 teams.

The top three teams and top six places in each event advance to the regional meet.

Hill, who had jumped from club gymnastics to the high school team prior to her junior season, was pushing for regional in her final year as a Patriot.

On balance beam, the second of Hill’s two falls came on a back tuck. Each fall resulted in a deduction of a half point, and she scored 7.575.

“That was the one routine I really needed today to help out everything,” said Hill, who placed 24th overall. “It's frustrating, but you move on.”

Even without the deduction, Hill would have tied for 10th.

“It was a good beam routine and I'm glad that she went back and repeated a skill so she could get a connection, so she could get the best score that she could,” Ranly said. “There was just a lot of tough competition today.”

Homestead freshman Gianna Zirille scored 9.5 to win the event, and she went on to sweep all five titles for the Spartans.

Hill's best score of the day came on floor exercise, her marquee event, as she earned a 9.1. Although it wasn't her best of the season, she tied for 10th with Isabella Hoogland of Carroll. It was the best individual finish for a Jay County gymnast on the day.

“It was an OK score,” Hill said. “Definitely not my greatest, probably one of my lower scores for the season, so that's kind of upsetting. But I mean, nothing you can do about it now.”

Hill scored 8.75 on vault (17th) and 8.05 on bars (16th) for an all-around total of 33.475, which was 10th out of 21 competitors.

It capped a short Patriot career after forgoing her club endeavors two years ago.

“It was a challenge switching over from club to high school,” she said. “But I feel like I grew really close to the team really fast just being able to make bonds with the girls. It's been a good experience for me.”

Kenzie Ring, a junior, had the Patriots’ only no-fall routine on the beam, and her 8.05 was 18th.

“I was really impressed with what Kenzie did today considering she’s been in a little bit of pain today,” Ranly said. “She fought really hard for everything she did and she got some pretty good scores.”

Ring scored 8.225 on bars (14th), 8.325 on vault (27th) and 8.075 on floor (23rd).

“Her bars was a really good score for sectional,” Ranly said. Ring’s all-around total of 32.675 was tied for 12th with Madison Dellinger of Concordia Lutheran. “Usually we score lower, everybody does at sectional, but she got a really nice score there.

“But the fact she was able to stay on the beam for her whole routine was really great too.”

Also competing on the vault for Jay County were Kayley Young (7.250 – 39th) and Cassidy Upp (7.05 – 41st). Misaal Fatimah, a senior exchange student from Lahore, Pakistan, competed on both floor (4.3 – 41st) and beam (4.35 – 42nd).