Metro gold

The Spartans earn their fifth straight Metro League title.

A repeat or a “three-peat”? Those for dilettantes. Even a four-peat is old hat by now.

The Spartan gymnastics team captured its fifth straight Metro League title Thursday evening, vaulting the team on to the district meet at Sammamish next weekend.

Bainbridge hosted the give-team meet, which was split between two rooms on the BHS/Commodore campus.

Paced by senior Brooke Nall, the Spartans earned 172.125 points, followed by West Seattle (152.275), Nathan Hale (143.5), Chief Sealth (68.275) and Ingraham (29.525).

Nall took all-around honors with a 36.100 evening, winning the beam, taking second on the bars and third on the vault, and only slipping to sixth on the floor after a stumble and an incomplete routine.

“I think it’s better to know that you tried your best than to get first all the time,” Nall said, adding that the judging was tough but fair.

Marie Welsh took first on the floor, with Sophie Wenzlau, Brittany Belt, Nall, Liz Annis and Carrie Kirkpatrick claiming fourth through eighth.

The Spartans went 1-2-3-4 on the bars, with the quartet of Welsh, Nall, Wenzlau and Belt, and 2-3-4 on the vault with the trio of Welsh, Nall and Wenzlau.

Belt earned fourth on the beam, with Welsh running sixth and Emily Basile in seventh.

Coach Cindy Guy credited the win to a season-long team effort and the leadership of the upperclassmen.

“I’m sort of like the manager,” she said. “Those kids are just totally focused on what we want to achieve. The young ones are like their little sisters, and they kind of scoop them up and take care of them.”

The team was also energized by the strong showing of family members and familiar faces from the classroom.

“It made the kids feel so good to see their teachers come,” Guy said. “It was nice seeing so many people come out and support us.”

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