Season ends at sectional

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FORT WAYNE — Only one current Patriot had ever competed at the sectional level before.

With such a youthful team, it can now look to build for the future.

Jay County High School’s gymnastics team had its season come to an end by placing ninth Saturday in the IHSAA gymnastics sectional meet at Concordia.

Bishop Dwenger, which was third in the state last season, repeated as sectional champion with a team score of 112.150. Carroll was the runner-up with 110.275, and Homestead finished third with 108.325.

The top three teams and top six individuals in each event advance to regional, which is Friday at Huntington North.

Jay County coach Jill Ranly, whose team totaled 92.375 points as it was ninth in consecutive years, wasn’t too upset with her team’s performance given the fact Dwenger (sixth), Homestead (ninth) and Carroll (12th) are all state-ranked teams.

“Score-wise, today was not one of our best scoring days,” Ranly said. “I thought we did well on floor and did well on vault.

“Beam was kind of our nemesis today. We had more falls today than were typical for us. Then we also had to take a fall on bars. That was a little disappointing as well.”

Paige Howell, one of two freshmen making their sectional debuts, set a career best on floor exercise with a 7.95, and finished with a career-best 28.6 in the all-around.

“Paige really came a long way,” said Ranly, noting the youngster tweaked her back about a month ago during warm up, and her first meet back was four days ago. “I would have been really interested to see what her season would have been like had she not been injured.

“I’m really looking for a lot from her in the next couple years.”

Howell was 34th on floor, and scored an 8.2 on vault to earn the same place. She added a 6.05 on uneven bars for 36th and scored 6.4 on balance beam to finish 38th.

Sophomore Karlie Bullard, who has been the highest-scoring gymnast for Jay County for most of this season, once again led the Patriots. She totaled 7.7 on bars to finish 21st. She was the only JCHS gymnast to only fall once on the beam, totaling 8.0 for 28th place. She earned her best score of 8.55 on vault, and was 30th on floor with 8.35, which Ranly thought should have been higher.

“She just didn’t get credit for a few things on floor,” Ranly said, noting the judges felt her legs didn’t get high enough on her wolf jumps. “Honestly, it’s a subjective sport. You just have to take one person’s word for it. She is able of scoring in the 9s, and I know she’s planning to work on a lot of new skills this summer. Hoping next year she’ll be able to advance through sectional.”

Bullard totaled 32.6 in the all-around to finish 19th, the best individual place of any Patriot.

Rachel Louck, a freshman, had her best finish of 26th on bars with a 7.225. Her highest score came on vault, as she scored an 8.2 for 35th. She added an 8.1 on floor (31st) and a 6.975 on beam (35th). Her all-around score of 30.5 was 22nd, one spot ahead of Howell and two ahead of sophomore Riley Leavell’s 28.425.

“Rachel … she likes to do things perfectly,” Ranly said. “A lot of times I challenge her to take risks and to try new things that maybe she doesn’t know how to do quite as perfectly. That will be next year’s goal for Rachel.”

Leavell, who competed at sectional as a freshman last season, earned her highest score of 8.15 on vault for 36th place. She added an 8.0 on floor (33rd), 7.025 on beam (34th) and 5.3 on bars (38th).

Ranly said last season Leavell had a habit of falling on the beam, and had improved considerably this season until recently. The sophomore hardly got her routine started before she fell, as she didn’t get a solid footing on her mount and wasn’t able to stay on.

“It wasn’t the greatest beginning for her,” Ranly said.”

But with the youth of the Patriots, Ranly said she is hopeful for the coming years as this group continues to grow together.

“Interestingly enough, over half of the girls today, this was the first time they had ever been to a sectional,” she said. “They didn’t know what to expect. I think that being said, now that they have one under their belt, hopefully next year, everyone having been here it will be a much more positive experience for them.”

Sectional champions on each event included McKinley Carroll of Carroll and Amy Weilbaker of Dwenger on vault (9.5); E’Lycia Early of Concordia on bars (9.425); Elaine Cornewell of Dwenger on beam (9.75); Weilbaker on floor (9.725); and Sophia Wright-Turflinger of Dwenger in the all-around (37.475).