SM Northwest wins gymnastics regional

Six days earlier, the Shawnee Mission Northwest gymnastics team was embarrassed by coach Jackie Cipollini’s words at the 2009 Sunflower League Girls Gymnastics Championships.

The Cougars, who lost by more than two points against Free State last week, took the drama out of the Kansas 6A regional early.

After sterling balance beam routines by Camry Jones and Sierra Trussell, SM Northwest, which hosted the regional, had separated itself by more than four points from any other team Wednesday.

SM Northwest totaled 102.575 points, finishing 5.450 points better than any of the other six teams.

“We nailed beam, which is something we’ve worked hard on after we struggled with it at league,” said Cipollini, who had called her team’s performance last week embarrassing. “We still had some fumbles on bars and vault and haven’t yet put four (rotations) together, but we are striving to do that at state.”

No Cougars claimed individual gold medals, but the squad’s depth proved too powerful.

SM Northwest gymnasts finished third through sixth in the all-around behind Olathe Northwest’s Elayna Briggs and SM East’s Katye Bever.

The Cougars battled a variety of injuries. Jessica Tingle, who was third overall, and Sierra Trussell are banged up as is Molli Bird, who took a spill on the bars in practice Tuesday.

Strong showings by Jones, who wound up sixth in the all-around, and Mary Janes Graves, who was fourth, saved SM Northwest from any challenge in the team race.

While the drama didn’t swirl around the eventual champion, it centered instead on which two teams among SM South, SM North, SM East and Olathe East would make the Kansas state tournament and which two would miss out.

Buoyed by their own strong performance on the beam, only the Cougars’ 26.450 points topped the Raiders’ 25.000 on that apparatus. SM South locked down the runner-up spot on the final rotation with 97.125 team points.

Led by Kendra Martiny, who was second on the bars (8.725) and Monica Funk, who won the beam (9.100), the Raiders don’t believe they’ve peaked.

SM North, which last sent someone to state three seasons ago, locked down third place with its consistency led by Jenn Lanman, who picked up medals on the bars and beam.

SM East edged Olathe East by just over half a point for the final state-qualifying spot.

@ Go to KansasCity.com for Varsity Zone, our home for high school sports.

submitted by TOD PALMER - 2009-10-28 23:55:01

Comments - leave comment