High school gymnastics season is entering stretch run

With the Kansas high school gymnastics state meet scheduled for Oct. 25, Olathe East High School coach Julie Bayha is pretty pleased with her team’s progress.

The Hawks are coming off a victory at their own meet, the Olathe East Invitational, where they took home individual titles in three of the five events. Olathe Northwest’s Jessie Payne, who is also coached by Bayha, won the all-around title at the meet. Lawerence Free State’s Grace Bartle won the floor exercise.

It was the second consecutive team title for the Hawks, who won the Shawnee Mission North Invitational just five days earlier.

“They are practicing really well and supporting and encouraging each other a lot,” Bayha said of her team members. “When it comes to meet time, they are in the right frame of mind and they are staying on the beam.”

Even though Bayha can take some comfort with the Hawks’ success so far this season, she is wary about the fact that the top three spots in the team standings at the Olathe East meet were separated by just 5.575 points. Defending state champion Lawrence Free State finished second and Olathe Northwest placed third.

The closest competition seems to be setting up in the all-around event, where Payne won at Olathe East with a narrow 0.025 point margin against Bartle. They were followed by the Olathe East twosome of Samantha Bond and Darby Gertsema.

“There’s a really tight race there and it is going to be interesting to see how it all plays out,” Bayha said. “You have to be aggressive and become more consistent in your difficult skills because if you take those out, then your start value of your routine is too low to compete for a top spot. We have to build our routines up to earn those scores.”

Gertsema might have only finished fourth in the all-around standings, but she picked up a pair of titles in the vault and bars events at the Olathe East meet. Bond and Olivia Sanders tied to win the beam.

“Her vaults are amazing and it gets everyone excited when she hits it, because it is so powerful,” Bayha said of Gertsema. “She is also just one of the best teammates any gymnastics team could ask for. She is encouraging and supportive and has a positive attitude — plus a great skill level.”

Olathe East has four more meets to refine its strategy before the state meet, which will be held at Shawnee Mission West High School. The Hawks finished fourth last season at state behind Lawrence Free State, Olathe Northwest and SM West. Free State will be going for its third team title in four seasons, and Bartle will try to repeat as champion in the beam and floor exercise events. Payne is defending state champion in the all-around, bars and vault.

This story was originally published October 2, 2014 at 12:52 PM with the headline "High school gymnastics season is entering stretch run."