July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
Balance keys JCHS (03/09/2009)
JCHS gymnastics
Balance keys JCHS (03/09/2009)
By By RAY COONEY-
MUNCIE - Muncie Central athletics director Tom Jarvis passed out 24 event ribbons Saturday. He gave out another six for the all-around competition.
Only one of those 30 went to the Patriots. But while other teams will spend Friday night at home, Jay County High School's gymnastics team will be competing at the regional.
JCHS used a balanced team effort Saturday to earn its seventh straight regional berth, finishing as the runner-up in the Muncie Central sectional with a season-high 98.213 points.
"Coming into the day I thought we could be anywhere realistically between second and fourth or fifth," said JCHS coach Kristin Millspaugh, whose team edged Huntington North for the title last season. "It's pretty exciting to be at the top of that ...
"Marion beat us by about eight points earlier in the year, so we closed that gap quite a bit. ... It was a good day."
The top three teams and top six individuals in each event at the sectional meet advanced to the Huntington North regional Friday at 6 p.m.
Favored Marion won the title with 101.975 points, and Muncie Cnetral was third with 96.975. Huntington North narrowly missed a regional berth in fourth place at 96.6 points, and Olympic Athletic Conferenc champion Muncie Southside (94.65) finished fifth.
Runyon and Ainsworth scored for the Patriots on every event, but four different individuals - Stormi Metcalf, Lexie Rowles, Kyli Kelso and Melynda Brackman - added the No. 3 team score.
"Evidentally we have more depth than some of the other teams," said Millspaugh. "I know they would have liked to get more ribbons ... but it's kind of nice that everybody had to work together to get our team to advance. That wasn't a given this year."
The highlight of the day for the Patriots, who had not competed in three weeks because of cancelations because of weather, came on the uneven bars as they won the event and earned their lone top-six individual finish.
Junior Nadlie Runyon led the effort with her pair of Giants on the way to a third-place tie. She joined Kenya Whitelow of Muncie Central and Chelsea McMullen of Daleville with a score of 8.55.
Kristen Ainsworth, a sophomore, tied for eighth place with Yorktown's Kaycee Acree with an 8.05, and Stormi Metcalf was 12th at 7.85.
The scores were career bests for Runyon and Metcalf, and a season-best for Ainsworth.
Millspaugh said a key to the success on the event - Jay County's total of 24.45 points was 1.1 points better than any other team - came from Runyon and Ainsworth pulling back on difficult dismounts to focus on fundamentals.
At the same time, Metcalf went for everything.
"We took a risk with Stormi and she just nailed it today," said Millspaugh of the junior.
Runyon narrowly missed placing in the top six on the floor, where her 8.4 was just .05 points behind sixth-place Brittany Fisher of Muncie Southside. Ainsworth was 13th on the floor at 7.9 and Brackman added a 7.3 for 21st place.
Ainsworth hit her Tsukahara on the vault to lead the team with an 8.75 for seventh place, tying with Marion's Taylor Muskar. Runyon followed in 10th with an 8.65, and Rowles was 15th with an 8.55.
"I was proud of Kristen for throwing the Tsuk," said Millspaugh. "And she landed it, so that's exciting. I think she was disappointed with the score, but she's just got to get a little more consistent with it. It's just got to get a little bigger. That was a good start.
"I'm real pleased with Lexie. That vault has gotten really consistent. ... You know it's going to be a high-to-mid-eight every time she goes."
Runyon was on the way to a top-three finish on the balance beam before falling on her dismount. The fall is an automatic half-point deduction, and she finished with an 8.475 for eighth place.
Kristen Ainsworth had one fall in her routine for an 8.05 and 12th place, and Kelso had two falls as she finished 17th with a 7.688.
"There's two whole points," said Millspaugh of the falls. "Marion didn't have any. We need to stay on the beam. You're not going to win a big meet like this if you can't stay on the beam.
"Hopefully for next week we can stay on beam a little better."[[In-content Ad]]
Only one of those 30 went to the Patriots. But while other teams will spend Friday night at home, Jay County High School's gymnastics team will be competing at the regional.
JCHS used a balanced team effort Saturday to earn its seventh straight regional berth, finishing as the runner-up in the Muncie Central sectional with a season-high 98.213 points.
"Coming into the day I thought we could be anywhere realistically between second and fourth or fifth," said JCHS coach Kristin Millspaugh, whose team edged Huntington North for the title last season. "It's pretty exciting to be at the top of that ...
"Marion beat us by about eight points earlier in the year, so we closed that gap quite a bit. ... It was a good day."
The top three teams and top six individuals in each event at the sectional meet advanced to the Huntington North regional Friday at 6 p.m.
Favored Marion won the title with 101.975 points, and Muncie Cnetral was third with 96.975. Huntington North narrowly missed a regional berth in fourth place at 96.6 points, and Olympic Athletic Conferenc champion Muncie Southside (94.65) finished fifth.
Runyon and Ainsworth scored for the Patriots on every event, but four different individuals - Stormi Metcalf, Lexie Rowles, Kyli Kelso and Melynda Brackman - added the No. 3 team score.
"Evidentally we have more depth than some of the other teams," said Millspaugh. "I know they would have liked to get more ribbons ... but it's kind of nice that everybody had to work together to get our team to advance. That wasn't a given this year."
The highlight of the day for the Patriots, who had not competed in three weeks because of cancelations because of weather, came on the uneven bars as they won the event and earned their lone top-six individual finish.
Junior Nadlie Runyon led the effort with her pair of Giants on the way to a third-place tie. She joined Kenya Whitelow of Muncie Central and Chelsea McMullen of Daleville with a score of 8.55.
Kristen Ainsworth, a sophomore, tied for eighth place with Yorktown's Kaycee Acree with an 8.05, and Stormi Metcalf was 12th at 7.85.
The scores were career bests for Runyon and Metcalf, and a season-best for Ainsworth.
Millspaugh said a key to the success on the event - Jay County's total of 24.45 points was 1.1 points better than any other team - came from Runyon and Ainsworth pulling back on difficult dismounts to focus on fundamentals.
At the same time, Metcalf went for everything.
"We took a risk with Stormi and she just nailed it today," said Millspaugh of the junior.
Runyon narrowly missed placing in the top six on the floor, where her 8.4 was just .05 points behind sixth-place Brittany Fisher of Muncie Southside. Ainsworth was 13th on the floor at 7.9 and Brackman added a 7.3 for 21st place.
Ainsworth hit her Tsukahara on the vault to lead the team with an 8.75 for seventh place, tying with Marion's Taylor Muskar. Runyon followed in 10th with an 8.65, and Rowles was 15th with an 8.55.
"I was proud of Kristen for throwing the Tsuk," said Millspaugh. "And she landed it, so that's exciting. I think she was disappointed with the score, but she's just got to get a little more consistent with it. It's just got to get a little bigger. That was a good start.
"I'm real pleased with Lexie. That vault has gotten really consistent. ... You know it's going to be a high-to-mid-eight every time she goes."
Runyon was on the way to a top-three finish on the balance beam before falling on her dismount. The fall is an automatic half-point deduction, and she finished with an 8.475 for eighth place.
Kristen Ainsworth had one fall in her routine for an 8.05 and 12th place, and Kelso had two falls as she finished 17th with a 7.688.
"There's two whole points," said Millspaugh of the falls. "Marion didn't have any. We need to stay on the beam. You're not going to win a big meet like this if you can't stay on the beam.
"Hopefully for next week we can stay on beam a little better."[[In-content Ad]]
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