July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
Jay County gymnasts cruise by the Cavaliers (01/09/04)
JCHS gymnastics
Jay County gymnasts cruise by the Cavaliers (01/09/04)
PORTLAND — Another outstanding team endeavor by the Jay County gymnastics team left the Coldwater Cavaliers without much hope Thursday.
The Patriots scored a 98.05-87.15 victory over the over Coldwater, running their dual meet record this season to 4-0. Their lone setback of the year was a second place finish to Center Grove — the fifth-place team at last season’s state meet — at the Richmond Invitational.
“We’ve had four meets and (our score) has gone up each meet,” said Jay County coach Kristin Rees. “It went up a point and a half this time.
“We’re very excited about it.”
Rees said it’ll be difficult to keep getting the score to jump each meet, but it’s a good goal to have. It’ll be especially important as the Patriots face their second big test of the season when they visit highly-ranked Fort Wayne Carroll Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.
The Cavaliers, however, were no match for the overall team depth Jay County threw at them Thursday. They had just one gymnast crack the top three in any event while the home team had seven different gymnasts earn a first-, second- or third-place ribbon.
It was a good night for the Patriots across the board, with Sophomore Hannah Williams earning two victories and taking the all-around title with 32.9 points. Junior Lacey Grider was second in the all-around competition with a career-best 30.0, and sophomore Brittany Bauman put up her best scores ever in the vault and uneven parallel bars.
Even with those three efforts, Rees pointed out that it’s the continued improvement of the entire team which makes it tough to beat.
“No one person really stands out,” she said. “They were all just pretty good. That’s kind of been the defining factor on our team.”
Williams had a couple of falls on the vault, but she bounced back to take first place on the bars. Everything looked good and she stuck the dismount to secure the win with an 8.2.
The bars were the first of three events swept by the Patriots. Bauman notched her best score of 7.75 to place second, and freshman Lacey Thornburg was third with a 7.6
The other win for Williams came on the floor exercise. It wasn’t her best routine, but she managed to hang on to the double-full at the end of her first tumbling pass to score a winning 9.0.
Grider overcame some music difficulties — she was scheduled to compete before Williams, but was pulled off the mat and forced to wait — to take second place. She put up her best score of the year under the odd circumstances with an 8.15.
Freshman Kristin Brown completed the floor sweep with an 8.05.
Grider also had an 8.3 on the vault, a 7.0 on the beam and a 6.55 on the bars for her personal-best all-around score.
“Even though she fell twice from beam it was probably her most consistent routine of the season,” said Rees. “She’s connecting things better.
“(Her improvement) was just a couple of little things in each event.”
A couple of seniors paced the third Patriot sweep.
After suffering through several falls the night before, Kayla Smith turned in the lone no-fall routine for Jay County on the balance beam against Coldwater. She was excellent throughout the routine on the way to an 8.15.
Amanda Knight came off the beam on one of her jumps, but had not other miscues as she finished second at 7.9. Williams took third place with a score of 7.7.
Coldwater got its only ribbon and its only win in the vault. Danielle Rutschilling broke through with an 8.75. Knight was second for Jay County at 8.65, and Bauman had an 8.6 to place third.
Rees said she thinks vault is one of the things her team will continue to get better at as the year roles on.
“We have better vaults that haven’t come out yet,” she said. “I’d like to see Lacey Thornburg throwing a (Ksukahara) within the next couple meets.
“Hannah (Williams) hasn’t been hitting hers recently either.”
Junior varsity
Jay County’s junior varsity squad was also outstanding as it posted a score which would have beaten both the Blackford and Marion varsity teams a night earlier. The Patriots defeated Coldwater 81.95-65.9.
Melissa Fifer won a pair of events, and Heather Stevens was the all-around winning at 25.55.
Fifer was spotted once, but had no falls in her beam routine for a winning 7.3. She also easily won the floor exercise with a 7.55.
Makenzie Knight took first in the bars with a 7.15, and Kayla Smith won the vault with a 7.65.[[In-content Ad]]
The Patriots scored a 98.05-87.15 victory over the over Coldwater, running their dual meet record this season to 4-0. Their lone setback of the year was a second place finish to Center Grove — the fifth-place team at last season’s state meet — at the Richmond Invitational.
“We’ve had four meets and (our score) has gone up each meet,” said Jay County coach Kristin Rees. “It went up a point and a half this time.
“We’re very excited about it.”
Rees said it’ll be difficult to keep getting the score to jump each meet, but it’s a good goal to have. It’ll be especially important as the Patriots face their second big test of the season when they visit highly-ranked Fort Wayne Carroll Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.
The Cavaliers, however, were no match for the overall team depth Jay County threw at them Thursday. They had just one gymnast crack the top three in any event while the home team had seven different gymnasts earn a first-, second- or third-place ribbon.
It was a good night for the Patriots across the board, with Sophomore Hannah Williams earning two victories and taking the all-around title with 32.9 points. Junior Lacey Grider was second in the all-around competition with a career-best 30.0, and sophomore Brittany Bauman put up her best scores ever in the vault and uneven parallel bars.
Even with those three efforts, Rees pointed out that it’s the continued improvement of the entire team which makes it tough to beat.
“No one person really stands out,” she said. “They were all just pretty good. That’s kind of been the defining factor on our team.”
Williams had a couple of falls on the vault, but she bounced back to take first place on the bars. Everything looked good and she stuck the dismount to secure the win with an 8.2.
The bars were the first of three events swept by the Patriots. Bauman notched her best score of 7.75 to place second, and freshman Lacey Thornburg was third with a 7.6
The other win for Williams came on the floor exercise. It wasn’t her best routine, but she managed to hang on to the double-full at the end of her first tumbling pass to score a winning 9.0.
Grider overcame some music difficulties — she was scheduled to compete before Williams, but was pulled off the mat and forced to wait — to take second place. She put up her best score of the year under the odd circumstances with an 8.15.
Freshman Kristin Brown completed the floor sweep with an 8.05.
Grider also had an 8.3 on the vault, a 7.0 on the beam and a 6.55 on the bars for her personal-best all-around score.
“Even though she fell twice from beam it was probably her most consistent routine of the season,” said Rees. “She’s connecting things better.
“(Her improvement) was just a couple of little things in each event.”
A couple of seniors paced the third Patriot sweep.
After suffering through several falls the night before, Kayla Smith turned in the lone no-fall routine for Jay County on the balance beam against Coldwater. She was excellent throughout the routine on the way to an 8.15.
Amanda Knight came off the beam on one of her jumps, but had not other miscues as she finished second at 7.9. Williams took third place with a score of 7.7.
Coldwater got its only ribbon and its only win in the vault. Danielle Rutschilling broke through with an 8.75. Knight was second for Jay County at 8.65, and Bauman had an 8.6 to place third.
Rees said she thinks vault is one of the things her team will continue to get better at as the year roles on.
“We have better vaults that haven’t come out yet,” she said. “I’d like to see Lacey Thornburg throwing a (Ksukahara) within the next couple meets.
“Hannah (Williams) hasn’t been hitting hers recently either.”
Junior varsity
Jay County’s junior varsity squad was also outstanding as it posted a score which would have beaten both the Blackford and Marion varsity teams a night earlier. The Patriots defeated Coldwater 81.95-65.9.
Melissa Fifer won a pair of events, and Heather Stevens was the all-around winning at 25.55.
Fifer was spotted once, but had no falls in her beam routine for a winning 7.3. She also easily won the floor exercise with a 7.55.
Makenzie Knight took first in the bars with a 7.15, and Kayla Smith won the vault with a 7.65.[[In-content Ad]]
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