July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
Pats falter at Connersville (01/22/04)
JCHS gymnastics
Pats falter at Connersville (01/22/04)
CONNERSVILLE — The Connersville Spartans often seem to have a little bit more to give when they see the Jay County Patriots on their gymnastics schedule. This time around they had a whole lot more.
The Spartans put up by far their best score of the young season to top Jay County 97.0-94.75 Wednesday. Their previous best score this year was 93.6.
It was Jay County’s second lowest score of the season.
Still, the Patriots hope to be able to avenge the defeat at the conference meet later in the season. Connersville has won 14 of the last 15 Olympic Athletic Conference championships.
“Vault and bars is where it’s going to have to happen,” said Jay County coach Kristin Rees. “We’re going to have to come in confident. Tonight I think we sort of did come in confident, but we let a rough start shake us up a little bit.”
The Patriots had some problems on the bars as they opened the night with a couple of uncharacteristic falls. But they still had three scores of 7.3 or higher — led by Lacey Thornburg in third place with a 7.75 — which had them within a half a point of Connersville in the event.
But, things didn’t go so well on the vault. It simply wasn’t the best night for the Patriots as they had several falls.
Hannah Williams had the best score on the team with an 8.4. But, she did it without being able to land either of her two attempts at the Tsukahara.
The team was also without Thornburg on the event after she injured her ankle during warm-ups.
Williams was the lone Jay County gymnast to place in the top five in the vault.
Each of the six Spartan competitors scored 7.7 or higher to put up a very nice 25.4 total. It gave Connersville a lead of nearly 2.5 points midway through the meet.
“I don’t think we got intimidated,” said Rees. “That could have been a problem, but I don’t think it was. I think they know they can beat that team.
“A couple of our top varsity scorers had a bad night. I think that affected morale a little bit.”
The Patriots had some good performances on the balance beam, but had five falls by their usual top three gymnasts on the event.
Lacey Grider and Brittany Bauman turned in the only two no-fall routines for the varsity squad, placing second and fourth respectively. Grider finished with a 7.75, and Bauman was one tenth behind at 7.65.
Williams finished in between the pair with a 7.7 in a routine which included falls on both of her back tuck attempts.
Jay County matched the Spartans on the event as both teams scored 23.1 points.
The lone team victory in an event for the Patriots came on the floor exercise, where they picked up a 25.1-24.95 victory.
Williams led the way in that event with a couple of nice tumbling passes to start and finish her routine. She finished with a 9.05 to place second.
Freshman Kristin Brown was next for the Patriots in third place with an 8.25, and Grider was fourth with a 7.8.
All of Jay County’s scores combined were not enough to overcome Kristin Gilley.
The Connersville freshman carried her team to victory by winning every event on the way to a personal-best 37.05 all-around total. Williams’ all-around score was 32.85.
Gilley had her best event score on the floor, where she won with a 9.5. She scored nines in every event, with a 9.3 on the beam, and 9.25 on the vault and a 9.0 on the bars.
Fellow freshman Courtney Hurst was the only other Spartan to join her in the top three in any event. Hurst was second on the bars with a 7.95 and third on the vault with an 8.3.
Rees said the bright spot for the Patriots it was Bauman, who broke the 30-point barrier in the all-around for the first time this season with a 30.1.
She had a 7.8 on the vault, a 7.35 on the floor and a 7.3 on the bars to go along with her fourth-place beam total.
“She stayed on the beam tonight for the first time ever,” Rees said of Bauman. “She was just pretty solid on everything. She put together solid routines tonight.”
Jay County will visit Muncie Southside Thursday, Jan. 29 at 6:45 p.m.
Junior varsity
The Jay County junior varsity team stayed undefeated with a 79-34.75 win over an incomplete Connersville squad.
A different gymnast won each event for the Patriots as they swept the first-place ribbons at the JV level.
Kayla Smith had the high junior varsity score with a 7.75 on the vault, and Caitlin Dunn won the floor exercise with a personal-best 7.6. Kristin Brown and Lacey Grider won the beam and bars respectively with matching scores of 6.55.
Heather Stevens had personal-best all-around score by two full points as she finished first with a 27.5. She got the total with her top personal scores on the bars (6.25) and vault (7.4) as she finished second and third in those events.[[In-content Ad]]
The Spartans put up by far their best score of the young season to top Jay County 97.0-94.75 Wednesday. Their previous best score this year was 93.6.
It was Jay County’s second lowest score of the season.
Still, the Patriots hope to be able to avenge the defeat at the conference meet later in the season. Connersville has won 14 of the last 15 Olympic Athletic Conference championships.
“Vault and bars is where it’s going to have to happen,” said Jay County coach Kristin Rees. “We’re going to have to come in confident. Tonight I think we sort of did come in confident, but we let a rough start shake us up a little bit.”
The Patriots had some problems on the bars as they opened the night with a couple of uncharacteristic falls. But they still had three scores of 7.3 or higher — led by Lacey Thornburg in third place with a 7.75 — which had them within a half a point of Connersville in the event.
But, things didn’t go so well on the vault. It simply wasn’t the best night for the Patriots as they had several falls.
Hannah Williams had the best score on the team with an 8.4. But, she did it without being able to land either of her two attempts at the Tsukahara.
The team was also without Thornburg on the event after she injured her ankle during warm-ups.
Williams was the lone Jay County gymnast to place in the top five in the vault.
Each of the six Spartan competitors scored 7.7 or higher to put up a very nice 25.4 total. It gave Connersville a lead of nearly 2.5 points midway through the meet.
“I don’t think we got intimidated,” said Rees. “That could have been a problem, but I don’t think it was. I think they know they can beat that team.
“A couple of our top varsity scorers had a bad night. I think that affected morale a little bit.”
The Patriots had some good performances on the balance beam, but had five falls by their usual top three gymnasts on the event.
Lacey Grider and Brittany Bauman turned in the only two no-fall routines for the varsity squad, placing second and fourth respectively. Grider finished with a 7.75, and Bauman was one tenth behind at 7.65.
Williams finished in between the pair with a 7.7 in a routine which included falls on both of her back tuck attempts.
Jay County matched the Spartans on the event as both teams scored 23.1 points.
The lone team victory in an event for the Patriots came on the floor exercise, where they picked up a 25.1-24.95 victory.
Williams led the way in that event with a couple of nice tumbling passes to start and finish her routine. She finished with a 9.05 to place second.
Freshman Kristin Brown was next for the Patriots in third place with an 8.25, and Grider was fourth with a 7.8.
All of Jay County’s scores combined were not enough to overcome Kristin Gilley.
The Connersville freshman carried her team to victory by winning every event on the way to a personal-best 37.05 all-around total. Williams’ all-around score was 32.85.
Gilley had her best event score on the floor, where she won with a 9.5. She scored nines in every event, with a 9.3 on the beam, and 9.25 on the vault and a 9.0 on the bars.
Fellow freshman Courtney Hurst was the only other Spartan to join her in the top three in any event. Hurst was second on the bars with a 7.95 and third on the vault with an 8.3.
Rees said the bright spot for the Patriots it was Bauman, who broke the 30-point barrier in the all-around for the first time this season with a 30.1.
She had a 7.8 on the vault, a 7.35 on the floor and a 7.3 on the bars to go along with her fourth-place beam total.
“She stayed on the beam tonight for the first time ever,” Rees said of Bauman. “She was just pretty solid on everything. She put together solid routines tonight.”
Jay County will visit Muncie Southside Thursday, Jan. 29 at 6:45 p.m.
Junior varsity
The Jay County junior varsity team stayed undefeated with a 79-34.75 win over an incomplete Connersville squad.
A different gymnast won each event for the Patriots as they swept the first-place ribbons at the JV level.
Kayla Smith had the high junior varsity score with a 7.75 on the vault, and Caitlin Dunn won the floor exercise with a personal-best 7.6. Kristin Brown and Lacey Grider won the beam and bars respectively with matching scores of 6.55.
Heather Stevens had personal-best all-around score by two full points as she finished first with a 27.5. She got the total with her top personal scores on the bars (6.25) and vault (7.4) as she finished second and third in those events.[[In-content Ad]]
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