Thursday, Oct. 29, 2009

Briggs claim all-around title at gymnastics regional

After back-to-back Kansas state championships, Olathe East's gymnastics team will be represented by a single athlete in a single event Nov. 7 at the 2009 Kansas state meet in Newton.

That much became official Wednesday during the first of two regional meets, which serve as state qualifiers. The top four teams and top six individuals in each event as well as the all-around at the Shawnee Mission Northwest regional and at Saturday's Olathe North regional move on to state.

That means Ashlynn Mims, who was third in the floor exercise (8.650) on Wednesday, is all the Hawks are sending to state.

On the flip side, Olathe Northwest is sending its entire team. But, of course, the entire Ravens team consists only of senior Elayna Briggs.

Briggs acquitted herself quite well at the regional, winning the floor (9.050) and vault (9.200) and adding a runner-up finish on the beam (9.000) and a fifth-place performance on the uneven bars (8.175).

It all added up to an all-around crown for Briggs, whose 35.425 team total was more than a half-point better than SM East's Katye Bever, who placed second overall.

“I didn't do well on bars, but I'm still sick and can't breathe right now,” Briggs said. “I'm hoping I can get healthy and challenge for the all-around at state. I've gotten at least a 36 this season, so hopefully I can add at least another point, especially because my bars and beam have been spotty lately.”

She also hasn't been able to practice her vault as much as she'd like, so there are little bumps available to Briggs.

“It feels pretty good,” Briggs said. “It's still not as good as I wanted, but it's good considering everything.”

The host Cougars cruised to a regional crown.

Six days earlier, coach Jackie Cipollini said the SM Northwest gymnastics team was embarrassed by its performance at the 2009 Sunflower League Girls Gymnastics Championships.

But 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 had separated itself by more than four points from any other team.

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,” Cipollini said. “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.”

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 and are a threat to nab one of the three teams trophies at state.

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 just over half a point for the final state-qualifying spot.

2009 Kansas 6A regional

Top four team qualify for state

Team results

1. SM Northwest, 102.575; 2. SM South, 97.125; 3. SM North, 96.825; 4. SM East, 95.725; 5. Olathe East, 95.175; 6. SM West, 70.600; 7. Olathe Northwest, 35.425.

Individual state qualifiers

All-around — 1. Elayna Briggs, ONW, 35.425; 2. Katye Bever, SME, 34.875; 3. Jessica Tingle, SMNW, 34.175; 4. Mary Jane Graves, SMNW, 33.850; 5. Sierra Trussell, SMNW, 33.500; 6. Camry Jones, SMNW, 33.050.

Uneven bars — 1. Katye Bever, SME, 8.950; 2. Kendra Martiny, SMS, 8.725; 3. Mary Jane Graves, SMNW, 8.350; 4. Jessica Tingle, SMNW, 8.200; 5. Elayna Briggs, ONW, 8.175; 6. Jenn Lanman, SMN, 7.725.

Balance beam — 1. Monica Funk, SMS, 9.100; 2. Elayna Briggs, ONW, 9.000; 3. Sierra Trussell, SMNW, 8.950; 4. Camry Jones, SMNW, 8.900; 5. Katye Bever, SME, 8.800; 6. Mary Jane Graves, SMNW, 8.600.

Floor exercise — 1. Elayna Briggs, ONW, 9.050; 2. Sierra Trussell, SMNW, 8.850; 3. Ashlynn Mims, OE, 8.650; 4. Katye Bever, SME, 8.625; 5. Jessica Tingle, SMNW, 8.525; 6. Jenn Lanman, SMN, 8.450.

Vault — 1. Elayna Briggs, ONW, 9.200; 2. Jessica Tingle, SMNW, 8.950; 3t. Kendra Martiny, SMS, Grace Gillaspie, SME, and Molli Bird, SMNW, 8.650; 6. Halyn Massey, SMN, 8.600.

Other Olathe competitors

All-around — 10. Ashlynn Mims, OE, 32.275; 12. Shelby Jegen, OE, 31.850.

Uneven bars — 9. Shelby Jegen, OE, 7.550; 15t. Ashlynn Mims, OE, 7.200; 20. Brooke Riley, OE, 6.850.

Balance beam — 10t. Shelby Jegen, OE, 7.950; 12. Ashlynn Mims, OE, 7.850; 14. Audrey Cox, OE, 7.750; 16t. Ashley Kelly, OE, 7.550; 28. Paige Rausch, OE, 5.800.

Floor exercise — 9. Ashley Kelly, OE, 8.325; 11. Paige Rausch, OE, 8.075; 12. Shelby Jegen, OE, 8.050.

Vault — 7. Ashlynn Mims, OE, 8.575; 18. Shelby Jegen, OE, 8.300; 22. Brooke Riley, OE, 8.100.

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