By the end of the Kansas state gymnastics meet on Saturday at Olathe East, you would have been hard-pressed to find a gymnast happier than Olathe East senior Annie Pauls.</p><p>Pauls won her first all-around state title with a score of 36.5, edging out Hawks teammate Beth Copeland, who won the floor and finished second in the all-around with a score of 36.275.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s the best feeling in the world to know your hard work finally paid off,&#8221; said Pauls, who also won the bars. &#8220;Every time I worked out, I imagined what this would feel like.&#8221;</p><p>Together, Copeland and Pauls also led the Hawks to their second consecutive team state title. Olathe East&#8217;s team score of 106.35 was more than one point higher than second-place SM Northwest.</p><p>&#8220;It was a long, stressful year,&#8221; Olathe East coach Lydia Messenger said. &#8220;The girls wanted to experience the feeling of winning a state title again ... they nailed their routines.&#8221;</p><p>But while Pauls and the rest of her Olathe East teammates were basking in the glory, others were thinking about what could have been.</p><p>Take SM Northwest senior Candice Owen, for instance. Owen finished third in the all-around with a score of 35.975, but openly wondered how she might have fared if she wasn&#8217;t dealing with a sprained left ankle and a stress fracture in her right leg.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s a learning experience, I guess,&#8221; said Owen, who was walking with a limp during the medal ceremony. &#8220;I gave my best, and considering my injuries I thought I did pretty well.&#8221;</p><p>Olathe South senior Alyson Ramsey was in the same boat. Ramsey, who finished third at state in the all-around last year, had to fight through mono and her own nagging leg injuries this season.</p><p>And by the end of the state meet, Ramsey couldn&#8217;t hold back the tears. Her high school gymnastics career was over.</p><p>&#8220;This whole season has been so tough, mentally and physically, with me being sick,&#8221; said Ramsey, who finished eighth in the all-around. &#8220;After missing three weeks in the middle of the season, you have to be happy with eighth at state.&#8221;</p><p>But while several seniors were left pondering the end of their careers, gymnasts like SM Northwest junior Sierra Trussell are already looking ahead.</p><p>Trussell, who was competing at her first state gymnastics meet, won the beam with a score of 9.35. She joined SM East junior Hannah Quillec, who won the vault, as the only non-Olathe East gymnasts to win an event.