Olathe East’s Darby Gertsema is The Star’s All-Metro gymnast of the year
Olathe East High School senior Darby Gertsema knew the look as soon as she saw it on coach Julie Bayha’s face at the Kansas high school gymnastics state meet.
It was a subtle hint that Bayha had done the math and the scores revealed the Hawks had done just enough to earn the program’s sixth state championship. That feat would warrant what occurred next.
Gertsema and her teammates quietly filed outside, ran up the stairs of Newton (Kan.) High School and celebrated. Then, they all regained their composure and hid their excitement when they returned to the gymnasium.
That is the kind of excitement that brought Gertsema back to high school gymnastics after she took off her sophomore year and opted for club competition.
“I can’t really explain how great it was,” said Gertsema, The Star’s All-Metro gymnast of the year. “It was the perfect way to end it.”
Gertsema led the way by winning her second consecutive state title in the all-around competition. She finished 0.05 points ahead of teammate Samantha Bond.
Gertsema also defended her state title in the vault, placed second in uneven parallel bars, finished third in the balance beam and sixth in the floor exercise to finish the all-around competition with 37.05 points.
“It’s really nice to have your hard work pay off,” Gertsema said. “I’ve been doing gymnastics since I was 3 years old, and you spend so much time in the gym. To get this result is really cool.”
The Star’s All-Metro gymnastics team
Samantha Bond, Olathe East, junior. Bond finished just 0.05 points behind teammate Darby Gertsema and placed second in the all-around competition at the Kansas gymnastics state tournament. Bond won the beam and floor exercise events. She also placed second in vault and fifth on the uneven bars.
Ariana Coker, Shawnee Mission West, junior. Coker led the Vikings to a sixth-place finish at the Kansas gymnastics state meet with a seventh-place finish in the all-around competition. She also tied for seventh place in the floor exercise, placed eighth in vault, ninth in beam and 15th in the uneven bars.
Darby Gertsema, Olathe East, senior. Gertsema, who won her second consecutive all-around state championship at state, helped deliver a team title for the Hawks. She was the state champion in the vault, placed second in the uneven bars, third in the balance beam and sixth in the floor exercise.
Jessie Stindt, Shawnee Mission East, sophomore. Stindt led the Lancers to a seventh-place finish in the team standings at the Kansas state meet. She placed fifth in the all-around competition. Her best finish came in the beam, where she finished sixth. She also placed seventh in the bars, 11th in floor exercise and 20th in the vault.
Katie Wingate, Olathe East, sophomore. The Sunflower League meet’s floor exercise champion placed fourth in the all-around competition at the Kansas state meet. She was runner-up in the floor exercise, finished fourth in the balance beam, 11th in the uneven bars and 21st in the vault.
This story was originally published December 17, 2015 at 7:01 PM with the headline "Olathe East’s Darby Gertsema is The Star’s All-Metro gymnast of the year."