‘Final salute’ to Kansas girls gymnastics held during emotional state championships
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- Olathe South senior Keira Spence led peers through an emotional final salute.
- Alumni marched by decade during opening ceremonies to honor program history.
- Athletes and families traded tears and tight hugs as the season and era closed.
Olathe South gymnast Keira Spence, 17, walked into the gym Saturday morning trying to set her emotions aside. She, along with the other young athletes, parents, coaches and officials, was preparing all season for a “final salute” to gymnastics.
If not for the teary eyes, louder-than-normal cheers and tighter-than-normal hugs, a casual spectator might not realize that everyone at Olathe East High School was preparing to lose something.
“I tried not to cry,” Spence, a senior, said, “because crying makes me shake, and I couldn’t shake for the beam. So I was just putting a smile on my face, trying to be happy, even though it’s just very heartbreaking.”
The culmination of Spence’s season was here, and focused on the task ahead, she had to forget for a moment that this would be the final Kansas State High School Athletics Association Girls Gymnastics Championship.
“It was such a positive atmosphere. I loved it so much,” Spence said.
Honoring a half-century of KSHSAA gymnasts
The day’s events began with a celebration of girls gymnastics over the years. As part of the opening ceremonies, alumni marched into the venue and stood by people holding signs from the decade in which they participated.
The decades ran from the 1970s to 2020s.
The first year gymnastics became a KSHSAA sanctioned sport was in 1974. Schools competed in one class, with Wichata-South winning the team championship, according to KSHSAA.
The ways in which teams and individuals qualified for the state meet has varied throughout the years. In 2010, regional meets were eliminated from the process.
This year, the top eight teams in Kansas qualified for the state meet, based on the average of their top three meet scores.
The top five gymnasts in each event who did not qualify as a member of a team also competed at the state meet. To determine these individuals, KSHSAA took the average of their top three event scores from the season.
For the final state meet, medals were awarded to the top six finishers in all four events and in all-around scores. Team metals and trophies were awarded to the top three teams.
Sitting in the bleachers before the meet began Saturday was Delesa Carter, 43, and her family, who eagerly awaited seeing her freshman daughter, Darcel Carter, 14, participate.
“I’m just proud,” Delesa Carter said. “I want her to have fun and enjoy this moment, take it in. I want her to remember this and the relationships that she’s built.”
Delesa Carter’s family sported Shawnee Mission Northwest’s school colors, with black and orange pom-poms, T-shirts and a homemade polka-dot sign.
They were filled with excitement and sadness, Delesa Carter said, as they wrestled with the sport no longer being sanctioned by KSHSAA after this year.
“She may go back to club gymnastics. But she’s been challenged by the (high school) coaches to try new things, new skills,” the mother said of her daughter. “She’s grown a lot this year.”
Why did KSHSAA eliminate gymnastics?
A spokesperson for KSHSAA said in an email that its board decided to end girls gymnastics after this year when several schools in the Sunflower League announced they would no longer participate after the 2025-26 season.
Those schools included all Olathe, Shawnee Mission and Lawrence high schools, KSHSAA said.
“In recent years, school team and individual student participation has dwindled ...” said Bill Faflick, executive director of KSHSAA. “The KSHSAA board determined it appropriate to sunset state gymnastics as there would not be enough participating schools and athletes to conduct quality competitions.”
The cut comes as interest in other girls sports has increased, leading, for instance, to the addition of girls wrestling as a sanctioned sport in 2019.
Gymnastics excellence in Kansas
Talented gymnasts have come from Kansas City area high schools in recent years.
Leanne Wong, a 2021 graduate of Blue Valley High School in Overland Park, won gold on the vault and silver in the all-around at the 2025 U.S. Championships.
Faflick said that there are many students in Kansas schools who achieve at a high level in their respective activities. While those athletes are often celebrated, activities benefit all students, he said.
“While the goal of every team and individual competitor is to win state,” Faflick said, “the real purpose of school activities is to support student growth and student achievement for all skill levels of participants.”
Jeff Boese, 49, and Tina Higley, 49, watched from the stands Saturday as their daughter Allison Boese, 17, put chalk on her hands and practiced her routine.
Allison, from Newton High, tore an ACL during her sophomore year but fought back to qualify for state. Her dad said it’s been a fun experience watching her overcome physical and mental challenges.
“I know that Allison, she’s been very sad about the end of gymnastics in Kansas,” Jeff Boese said. “She’s been very proud to be a part of the last team from Newton, you know, let alone the last team going through the gymnastics program in Kansas altogether.”
“She’s a senior this year, so for her to be a leader and a role model for the younger kids, that’s been very important to her.”
Higley said that while the level of competition has always been high in Kansas state gymnastics, the sport also has a thriving sense of community. Athletes, for instance, typically and genuinely wish the best for their opponents.
“You can cheer on your competitor and want them to do their best while you’re doing your best,” Higley said. “By cheering them on, it doesn’t diminish what you’re doing. And gymnasts are really good at that.”
Libby Hopkins, a senior gymnast from Shawnee Mission South, qualified for floor and beam this year. She said the atmosphere was different this year than years past, but she had high hopes for success Saturday.
“There’s more pressure this year,” she said. “Since it’s the last year, you really want to do well and end the legacy on a good note.”
Kansas state gymnastics championship
Saturday, October 25; at Olathe East HS
Team scores
1. Olathe North, 110.225; 2. Shawnee Mission East, 109.675; 3. Olathe South, 106.275; 4. Olathe East, 104.05; 5. Lawrence Free State, 100.275; 6. Newton, 97.725; 7. Emporia, 87.775; 8. Lawrence, 82.025.
Individual event results
All-Around: 1. Beaumont, Olathe Northwest, 38.625; 2. Prendiville, SM East, 37.475; 3. Huston, Free State, 36.925; 4. Drier, SM East, 36.75; 5. Sparks, Olathe East, 36.25; 6. Chambers, Olathe South, 35.725.
Vault: 1. Beaumont, Olathe Northwest, 9.875; 2. Prendiville, SM East, 9.65; 3. Easter, Olathe North, 9.375; 4. Thompson, Olathe South, 9.35; 5. Drier, SM East, 9.25; 6. Huston, Free State, 9.2.
Uneven Parallel Bars: 1. Beaumont, Olathe Northwest, 9.55; 2. Haferland, Olathe North, 9.025; 3. Huston, Free State, 8.975; 4. Prendiville, SM East, 8.725; 5. Drier, SM East, 8.7; 6. Nemeth, Olathe North, 8.55.
Balance Beam: 1. Sparks, Olathe East, 9.675; 2. Jo, Olathe North, 9.625; 3. Ray, Olathe North, 9.6; 4. Tryban, Olathe East, 9.575; 5. Allen, SM East, 9.525; 6. Noteboom, Olathe North, 9.5.
Floor Exercise: 1. Beaumont, Olathe Northwest, 9.9; 2. Prendiville, SM East, 9.8; 3. Tryban, Olathe East, 9.675; 4. Huston, Free State, 9.55; T5. Ray, Olathe North, 9.35; T5. Drier, SM East, 9.35.
This story was originally published October 25, 2025 at 4:53 PM.
