Olathe East dominates gymnastics state meet
Olathe East High School’s five gymnasts went last weekend to Newton, Kan., focused on bringing home the Hawks’ sixth state title. For motivation, they only had to look back to disappointing second-place finish at the last year’s state meet.
Olathe East coach Julie Bayha said the Hawks were relaxed and confident last weekend, which was displayed in the scores. Olathe East gymnasts finished first, second and fourth in the all-around competition. Darby Gertsema and Samantha Bond combined and captured four of the five individual state titles. They also led the Hawks to the team state title.
“The girls wanted it bad,” Bayha said. “They kept their eye on the ball all season, improved their skills, learned new skills and their hard work paid off.”
Gertsema’s best event was the vault, where she defended her state title. She placed second in the uneven parallel bars, third in the balance beam and sixth in the floor exercise, which helped her earn her second straight all-around title with 37.05 points.
Gertsema finished her high school career with three top-three individual finishes and two team titles, despite skipping her sophomore year of competition.
“Knowing that everything I was doing today, I was doing for the last time really motivated me,” Gertsema said by phone after Saturday’s state meet. “I’m really proud of all of us.”
Bond finished 0.05 points behind Gertsema for second place in the all-around. She won the floor exercise and beam, then finished second in vault and fifth in bars.
Katie Wingate added a fourth-place finish in the all-around. She trailed Gertsema by just 1.95 points.
“The girls are always encouraging each other and lifting each other up,” Bayha said. “There was no negativity in the gym.”
Shawnee Mission East’s Jessie Stindt, SM West’s Ariana Coker, SM South’s Sara Wilkerson and SM Northwest’s Leah Steinacker also scored in the top 10 in the all-around competition.
Newton’s Carlye Anderson was the only non-913 area event winner, edging Gertsema by 0.05 points in the bars. Newton finished second in the team standings, followed by SM Northwest, SM South, Lawrence, SM West, SM East and SM North.
This story was originally published October 28, 2015 at 5:52 PM with the headline "Olathe East dominates gymnastics state meet."