Jay wins OAC battle (01/17/08)

CONNERSVILLE - Again it wasn't their best night.

But it was a win, against the two-time defending Olympic Athletic Conference champions, in the gym they'll return to in three weeks to compete for the OAC crown.

With both squads missing athletes Wednesday because of injuries, the Jay County High School gymnastics team knocked off the Connersville Spartans 93.05-92.4.

"It's a nice win. We'll always take a win against Connersville," said JCHS coach Kristin Millspaugh, whose team last beat the Spartans in the 2005 conference meet to break their run of seven straight OAC titles. "We were missing people and they were missing people, so I don't know how indicative tonight's scores were of what the conference meet will really be like. ... I think it gives us a little bit of confidence ..."

The Patriots, who were missing Lexie Rowles and Jenny Buckland because of injuries as well as Melynda Brackman, won every event against Connersville, which was without top scorer Devyn Duncan. Both teams finished well under their season bests - 98.075 for the Spartans and 96.025 for JCHS.

Kristen Ainsworth and Erika Hunt finished one-two for Jay County in the all-around, and split the event victories.

Ainsworth, who posted a 32.125 all-around total, grabbed first place on the balance beam with an 8.45 and the uneven bars at 7.475.

The freshman added a career-best 8.5 to finish in a four-way tie for second on vault, and posted the No. 2 score for the Patriots on the floor exercise with a 7.7.

Hunt, a senior, took the vault at 8.65, and tied with Connersville's Sarah Counceller on the floor at 8.125. She was in the top three in every event, finishing second on the balance beam with a 7.85, and third on the bars with a 7.35 for her 31.975 all-around score.

Millspaugh praised the consistent efforts from her top two gymnasts, but also said it was good for some of her other athletes to get an all-around opportunity.

"What stands out most to me tonight was that some of our younger girls got more experience on varsity because we were shorthanded," said Millspaugh. "We had six girls that went varsity all-around tonight."

And while Ainsworth and Hunt picked up seven of the team's eight top-three efforts, every Patriot contributed to the team score.

Stormi Metcalf made the most of her chance, scoring on a pair of events. She was third on the JCHS squad on both the bars and beam with scores of 6.925 and 6.5 respectively.

Kyli Kelso tied with senior teammate Kayci Ryder for Jay County's No. 3 score on the floor at 7.025.

"Stormi on bars has solidified her spot in the top three or four," Millspaugh said. "She was third again tonight. And she didn't even do bars last year.

"Kyli Kelso had a good night. ... She made her long-hang kip that she's never made before, not even in practice. The first time she ever hit one was in warm-ups tonight."

Kendra Homan was the only Jay County gymnast other than Ainsworth and Hunt to crack the top three. She joined Ainsworth and Connersville's Counceller and Allie Purcell in the four-way tie for second on the vault with an 8.5.

The only other top-three efforts for Connersville came from Caitlin Rockwell, who was third on both the beam and floor.

The Patriots now look forward to a break after a stretch of six meets in the last two weeks, including the long trip to the Valparaiso Invitational Saturday. Their next competition is Jan. 24 at home against OAC rival Muncie Southside.

"It'll be very nice to go home and have a week off," said Millspaugh, adding that she hopes to work on endurance and adding new elements to routines during the gap. "I always make our team be consistent heading into sectional. That last week or two before sectional we probably won't add anything new. So between now and mid-February ... we'll experiment with some things."[[In-content Ad]]