Gymnasts finish 13-0, look to State

With last Tuesday’s win against Shorecrest, the Spartan gymnasts completed their second consecutive undefeated season, going 13-0 and running their currently winning streak to 25 straight meets to claim the league’s top spot for the second year in a row.

It’s a line of wins Bainbridge aims to lengthen when it hosts the league championship tournament this Friday to decided which teams and individuals will advance to regional competition.

With two of their pre-season goals met – an undefeated season and another No. 1 Metro ranking – only one major hurdle remains: to go to State as a team, unprecedented in Bainbridge gymnastics history.

As her team enters the post-season, coach Cindy Guy is looking forward to finally having her squad at full strength.

“Due to injuries and various other problems, we have not had our full team together yet this season,” Guy said. “We have excellent depth, and getting everyone healthy would give us a great shot (at qualifying for state).”

Experienced are sophomore Brooke Nall and junior Dana Cuykendall, both of whom qualified for State last season. Participating in all four events, Nall recetly broke her own school record with an exceptional 36.5 all-around total.

Mix in sophomore Brittany Belt, whom Guy feels has the talent to compete with the “big girls” at State, and the return of injured senior Emily Roche, and the Spartans do look formidable. Bringing strength to the squad are senior Alison Kramer on the beam and fellow senior Kirsten Hertz in at least three events.

Guy also looks with pride to the recent development of several underclassmen. She sees sophomore Carrie Kirkpatrick, returning from a torn ACL, competing in two events, along with Freshman Lizzie Annis, with classmate Emily Bastile competitive in the vault.

While Guy expects the Spartans to continue to dominate its Metro opponents this Friday, Regionals – scheduled for next weekend at Sammamish High School – will be another story. Old nemeses await: Issaquah, Newport and Sammamish of the KingCo conference, and Sehome of the Northwest league. The Metro League gymnastics championships begin at 6 p.m. Friday in the BHS gym.

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