Hibbard, JC win at home

The night was hers.
Competing in her last home gymnastics meet, Jay County High School senior Miranda Hibbard enjoyed the moment.
Hibbard improved three of her scores from a meet on Saturday, helping Jay County to a season-high score as it finished first Monday in a meet with Richmond, Muncie Central, Centerville and Seton Catholic.
“Since Saturday we had our eyes set on Richmond because we were within a point of them,” said JCHS coach Lana Kahlig, whose team was fifth at the Marion Invitational, just 0.765 behind the Red Devils. “We were really hoping to beat them tonight and take an overall win with the team score, and we accomplished that.”
The Patriots totaled 97.295 on Monday, more than a full point ahead of Richmond (96.2). Muncie Central was third with 95.125. Centerville and Seton Catholic did not have enough gymnasts for a team score.
Hibbard was the center of attention, at least for Jay County. She is the lone senior on the Patriot squad performing in her first — and also last — home meet of the season.
“It’s hard to be the opener and closer and I think she totally embraced her last night here at the high school,” Kahlig said.
Hibbard’s highest score of the evening was on the first event — vault — on which she scored an 8.65 to tie for fourth place. She was second on the team behind Maddie Strausburg, who won with an 8.9.
The Patriot senior tied for fifth on the floor exercise with an 8.3, also adding a 7.05 on uneven bars and a 6.675 on balance beam.
Three of those scores — vault, bars and floor — were improvements from the Marion meet on Saturday, and Kahlig said she hopes the squad’s oldest member can continue the trend of improving from one meet to the next for the remainder of the short season.
“Hopefully she can lead us into sectional,” Kahlig said. The sectional meet is slated for Feb. 27 at Concordia.
Freshmen Riley Leavell and Karlie Bullard set a number of career bests during their first home meet. Leavell had high scores all across the gym, and Bullard posted three scores higher than she had ever received.
Leavell began the meet with her best score of the night, earning an 8.15 on vault. She followed it with matching marks of 7.375 on bars and beam before finishing with a 7.25 for a 30.15 all around.
“Riley is our quiet freshman and she has been improving every single meet,” Kahlig said. “We keep adding stuff to her different routines, adding more difficulty and hoping to boost her scores too.”
She’s not letting the pressure of competing bother her either, approaching each event with a sense of poise not often seen out of youngsters.
“She is really embracing that part and getting her confidence boosted as well,” Kahlig said.
Bullard turned in a no-fall routine on the beam and finished fifth with a 7.5. She had career-highs on the other three events, earning her best score (8.425) on vault, scoring 8.125 on floor and 7.65 on bars.
“Karlie is my beam girl, that is why we put her first. She has not fallen off there yet,” Kahlig added. “We just hope she continues to stay strong for us and continues to improve as well.”
Strausburg, a junior, was the only Patriot to earn wins. She followed up her vault victory with a first place on beam (8.375). She also had an 8.5 on floor for third, and added a 7.325 on bars. Her all around score of 33.1 was a tenth of a point behind Richmond’s Eva Bosell.
“Maddie is always a good leader,” Kahlig said “We can rely on her for a big score on all the events.”
Battling a knee injury, Jocelyn Huey was still able to earn two top-six finishes. She was third on bars with an 8.025, and scored 7.475 on beam to place sixth. The junior did not compete on floor or vault.
Kahlig was happy to see her squad getting better as the season progresses.
“It’s really a self-esteem booster,” she said. “We are looking to get closer to that (100-point) mark at the end of the season but each meet we’ve been improving. Hopefully the girls feel the pressure to keep improving.”