OAC rivals battle at Jay (01/18/07)

The Connersville Spartans scored a convincing win Wednesday. But the margin was not wide enough for them to be comfortable when the Olympic Athletic Conference meet comes around in three weeks.

Jay County's gymnastics team lost 99.175-96.675, falling less than a point short of their season high.

The Patriots were without senior Lacey Thornburg, who suffered a severe ankle sprain Thursday at Blackford, for the third straight meet.

"I thought we had a pretty good meet," said JCHS coach Kristin Millspaugh. "Lacey was our No. 2 all-around before she got hurt. She's our No. 1 on two events, so we're missing a lot when we don't have her.

"I'm anxious to get Lacey back, even if it's just for a couple of events. If we could have her back on even bars and beam at conference we can be competitive with Connersville."

Connersville senior Kristin Gilley swept the first-place finishes Wednesday. She won the vault (9.3), uneven bars (9.5), balance beam (8.5) and floor exercise (8.475) for a top all-around total of 35.775.

Her teammate, sophomore Devyn Duncan, took second place on three out of four events. She was the runner-up on vault (9.05), bars (8.225) and floor (8.45), and scored 33.475 for second place in the all-around.

Nadlie Runyon broke through for Jay County's only runner-up finish. She had a couple of great saves to stay on the beam for a no-fall routine, hit her double toe turn and finished with an 8.3.

It was a good day overall for the Patriots on the beam, the only event in which they took two of the top three places.

Kristin Brown was right behind Runyon as she hit both of her high bonus jumps and gave Jay County a second no-fall routine for an 8.25. Erika Hunt had two falls early in her performance, but came back strong and posted a 7.6.

"I think what's made the team score that high the last two meets has been beam," said Millspaugh, whose team outscored the Spartans on the event 24.15-23.9.

"Nadlie is a pretty solid eight no matter what happens and Kristin's routine has gotten solid. Erika has cleaned up a lot since last year."

The Patriots also outscored Connersville on the floor, where Runyon earned her second top-three finish with a third-place 8.4.

She was also third in the all-around at 32.625.

Brown added an 8.175 floor score, and Hunt had an 8.1 to give Jay County a 24.675-24.3 advantage. But, the Spartans had the better vault scores and dominated the bars to take the win.

The other top three efforts both came from Hunt. She had a team-high 8.6 for third place on the vault, and also led the Patriots on the bars with her 8.125.

"If we could keep her on the beam she'd have one outstanding all-around score," said Millspaugh of Hunt, who finished at 32.425 despite losing a full point because of her two falls on the beam. "She's hit her bars dismount at each of the last three meets. Her vault is very solid and consistent so we can always count on at least an eight."

Following Hunt on the vault were Kendra Homan at 8.4 and Runyon with an 8.3. Runyon also had a 7.625 on the bars, and Kayci Ryder came in at 6.8.

Junior varsity

Jay County won three out of four events and scored a 78.2. The Spartans did not have a full JV team and finished with 49.525.

Kayci Ryder and Stormi Metcalf shared the top score for the Patriots, each posting a 7.4 to finish tied for first on the vault. Kendra Homan finished at 6.825 to win the floor, and Jenny Buckland's 6.8 was the top score on the bars.[[In-content Ad]]