Patriots defeat pair (01/05/06)

MARION — The Patriots knew they were going to be short on depth after the loss of several 2005 graduates. Then came a couple of injuries.

But despite being short-handed, Jay County’s gymnastics team is still off to a 3-0 start.

The Patriots grabbed two of those wins Wednesday night as they posted a score of 92 at Marion. The Blackford Bruins were a distant second with 78.85 points, and the host Giants were third with 77.8.

Hannah Williams provided a lift with her balance-beam victory as she returned to compete in two events after suffering an ankle injury in the preseason. Lacey Thornburg, who won three events in the Patriots’ opening meet, added an event victory and took first place in the all-around, and freshman Jenny Buckland picked up her first career win.

“I am very happy with the way they performed tonight,” said Jay County coach Kristin Millspaugh, whose team was competing for the first time since its Dec. 14 season opener at Heritage. “It should boost their confidence.”

Williams, a senior who was the 2005 state runner-up on the beam, looked as if she hadn’t missed a step because of her injury. She turned in a no-fall routine, hitting her standing back tuck without any problem en route to an 8.65 — the highest score of the night on any event.[[In-content Ad]]Marion’s Sarah Silveus, the only non-Jay County gymnast to win an event, matched Williams’s top score with her 8.65 on the vault.

Thornburg followed up her strong opening meet with another solid routine on the uneven parallel bars for a winning score of 7.85. Buckland’s energetic routine earned a 7.95, giving the freshman her first victory in just her second career meet.

“We saw a lot of things get fixed that we worked on in practice since the last meet,” said Millspaugh. “My big thing with them right now is just to be more aggressive.”

Jay County will need everything it can get after losing three valuable seniors — Melissa Fifer, Lacey Grider and Makenzie Knight — to graduation. In addition to the injury to Williams, who plans to compete in all four events at Saturday’s meet at Richmond, the team also lost senior Heather Stevens for the season when she injured her left knee at the Heritage meet.

But Millspagh said this team still has the talent to compete with the success of years, which have seen the Patriots make three straight regional trips with sectional titles in 2003 and 2004. Her team showed as much Wednesday as it swept the top three spots in three events as it battled a pair of sectional opponents.

Williams big total on the beam led one of those sweeps with junior Kristin Brown second (7.6) and Thornburg third (7.2). Buckland’s floor score also barely edged Brown (7.9) for the victory, and Erika Hunt placed third at 7.6.

Hunt added a second-place 8.35 on the vault, and Williams was second on the bars with a 7.05. Thornburg’s top all around score was a 29.7, nearly a full point higher than the season opener.

“They need to believe that they can (be as good as past teams),” said Millspaugh of the key to what her squad can accomplish this year. “I think we still have a lot of talent, they just don’t realize that yet. They’re still unsure of themselves.”

Jay County won three of the four individual events on the evening, with Kendra Homan taking first on the floor with a 6.8. Larissa Butcher picked up the beam victory with a 6.65, and Buckland won the bars with a 5.2.