Olathe East once again makes its mark as gymnastics state champion
.JPG "Chalky footprints covered the mat beneath the beam Saturday at the Shawnee Mission North Invitational high school gymnastics meet.__09192009_Susan Pfannmuller/Special to The Star")
It was Olathe East again in gymnastics.
The Olathe East Hawks finished ahead of the field on Saturday at Olathe South and won another Kansas state gymnastics championship.
Olathe East also won state last season, and has won four of the last five state team championships, having taken the crown in 2015 and 2016. It would be five straight for the Hawks, had not Olathe Northwest broken up the run with the title in 2017.
Olathe Northwest on Saturday finished second as a team with 103.075 points to Olathe East’s 106.075. Lawrence Free State was third with 100.250 points in the team scoring.
Olathe Northwest’s Brooke Illum was the big individual star on the day as she had the top all-around score (36.650) across the four events: vault, uneven bars, balance beam and floor exercise. Illum won both the floor and vault competitions.
Lawrence Free State’s Talia Gay won the uneven bars, while Olathe East’s Kelsey Meyer was the champion in the balance beam.
The state meet covers all classes in Kansas.
This story was originally published October 26, 2019 at 9:09 PM.