Four Spartans to compete at state in gymnastics

SAMMAMISH – The Bainbridge Spartans girls gymnastics team finished in fifth place in the District 2 Championship at Sammamish High School last Saturday.

Four Spartans qualified for the state championships this week in the Tacoma Dome’s Exhibition Hall.

The stellar Spartans heading to state are Katie Cooper, Emma Chee, Remi Rosencrans and Keagan Daniels.

“We’re just excited,” BHS Coach Cindy Guy said of the Spartans’ trip to the state championships.

“We’re happy with our rotations; we start on beam and end on bars. We had a good week of practice, and our goal is to get some kids to finals,” she added.

The Spartan gymnastic team is already winners in a big way, however.

The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association will recognize the BHS gymnastics team this week for earning the Winter Academic Championship. The team/group with the highest average GPA for their activities and classification level is recognized as Academic State Champion for the entire state.

It’s the second season in a row that Bainbridge athletes have won the award; the Spartans girls swimming and diving team earned the honor at the end of the fall sports season.

In the District 2 Championship, the Spartans finished with a team total of 171.275 points.

Holy Names won the championship with 176.8, with a tightly-packed group of teams just in front of Bainbridge (Kamiakan, 173.82; Ballard, 172.65; and Lake Washington, 172.65)

Mount Spokane finished sixth (166.35), followed by Sammamish (158.875) and Mercer Island (154.95).

Top 10 finishers at District 2 for the Spartans were Cooper, with eighth place in the vault and a score of 9.15; Rosencrans, eighth place on bars with a score of 9.05; and Cooper, seventh place on floor exercise with a score of 9.45.

Cooper and Chee will compete in the all-around competition in the state championship meet in Tacoma.

Cooper finished with a score of 35.925 at district, with Chee scoring 34.15.

Cooper and Chee will also compete in the vault, along with fellow Spartan Daniels. Chee scored an 8.55, while Daniels had an 8.60.

On bars, Rosencrans will be joined at state by Cooper (8.85), Chee (7.85) and Daniels (7.65).

Chee and Cooper will also compete on beam, with scores of 8.55 and 8.45 at the district championship, respectively.

In the floor exercise event, Rosencrans and Chee will compete alongside Cooper. Rosencrans had a score of 9.30, while Chee finished with a score of 9.15.

The Spartans were scheduled to compete during Session 1 on the first day of the state championships, Thursday, Feb. 15.