Patriot gymnasts close season with victory (03/01/05)

BLUFFTON — Jay County’s gymnastics team walked to an easy win in its final regular-season meet Monday, topping the Bluffton Tigers 89.1-63.2.

The post-season begins Saturday at 10:45 a.m. when the Patriots try for a third straight sectional title at Muncie Central.

Jay County took much of the difficulty out of its routines Monday because of equipment issues, accounting for the unusually low scores, but still took the top three spots in every event.

Senior Melissa Fifer paced the Patriots by finishing in the top two in three events. She was first on the vault with an 8.15, and second on both the balance beam (7.25) and the floor exercise (7.9).

Freshman Erika Hunt was in the top three in three events, including a floor win with a score of 8.05. She was second on the vault (7.95) and third on the beam (7.15).

Junior Hannah Williams posted the top score for the Patriots winning the beam with a 9.0, and Kristin Brown took first on the uneven parallel bars with a 6.8.

Brown also tied with Fifer for second on the floor with a 7.9.

Heather Stevens was third on both the floor and bars with scores of 7.9 and 5.65 respectively.

Also finishing in the top three were Lacey Thornburg (third, vault, 7.8) and Caitlin Dunn (second, bars, 5.95).

Jay County posted a junior varsity score of 70.

Bluffton, which did not have a full JV team, scored 35.9.

Sarah Ullom notched the high JV score with a 7.8 to win the vault, and Thornburg took first on the floor with a 7.4. Stevens grabbed the beam win with a 6.45, and Kendra Homan was first on the bars with a 4.45.[[In-content Ad]]