In perhaps the closest finish in event history – certainly the closest in the past decade – three teams finished within eight-tenths of a point of each other in the 3A State Gymnastics Championships last Friday at the Tacoma Dome.
Unfortunately, Bainbridge’s 168.350 points were only good for third place behind Columbia River’s 169.150 and Auburn Mountainview’s 168.475.
“It was a good, close meet,” said coach Cindy Guy, who tried to put a positive spin on what was a disappointing outcome. “Third place is good. We get a trophy.”
However, “I keep thinking, what could they do? It was a bunch of little teeny things.”
Some circumstances weren’t quite so teeny. For example, freshman Rachel Kaminer, competing in her first state meet, appeared to have turned in a solid performance on the bars. She did two complete swings from the upper, with a pause at the top of each, and absolutely stuck the landing. But when she finished, there was a delay of nearly five minutes as the two judges huddled before finally posting her score of 7.0. They had been more than half a point apart on their assessment, and the one with the lesser score prevailed.
“I was shocked,” Guy said. “I thought it was a nice routine.”
Fearing the outcome of the gymnastics equivalent of a technical foul, Guy chose to remain silent. Coaches can question judges, but face the possibility of a three-tenths deduction from the team score. Another frustration was the makeup of the two flights. Of the four teams with a legitimate shot at the team title, Columbia River, Auburn Mountainview and Mount Si were in the first flight. Bainbridge was in the second.
“It’s hard to know how the good teams are doing” in such a situation, Guy said.
While Guy wasn’t aware of it, the Spartans needed an average of 8.9 in their final event, floor exercise, to win. They might have reached that level – Annie Zuckerman and Adrienne Palay both exceeded 9 points – but co-captain Kathleen Callahan sprained her ankle. While she gutted out the rest of the routine, her score was well under what she might reasonably have expected if healthy. And the sudden illness of one of the girls originally scheduled to compete in floor resulted in a last-minute substitution.
“We juggled everybody a little,” Guy said. “They know that they have to be ready, but it still upsets their focus a little.”
In spite of difficulties, Guy came away with positives.
“We scored higher on beam than we did all year, even with several falls,” she said. “We bonded and had fun. It was nice to hang out together.”
The Spartans also learned that their collective GPA of 3.868 won the 3A gymnastics academic trophy, with Talia Weiss and Callahan both named to the all-academic state team. “That’s kind of cool,” Guy said.
“On Saturday, (assistant coach) Bryan (Garoutte) and I did some scouting, getting ideas for things we can add to routines. We’re very excited for next year.”
While the team loses co-captains Callahan and Zuckerman to graduation, everyone else returns.
“Hopefully we’ll go to state again and be competitive again,” she said.
Individual results
All-around – Annie Zuckerman, 15th, 35.2; Adrienne Palay, 26th, 33.325; Kathleen Callahan, 36th, 32.3; Anne Schwartz, 38th, 32.025. Vault – Callahan, 17T, 8.850; Zuckerman, 21T, 8.7; Schwartz, 23rd, 8.675; Talia Weiss, 30th, 8.575; Palay and Katie Mathews, 34T, 8.5. Bars – Callahan, 12th, 8.575; Zuckerman, 17th, 8.25; Weiss, 31T, 7.5; Schwartz, 33T, 7.425; Palay, 38th, 7.25; Rachel Kaminer, 45T, 7.0. Beam – Zuckerman, 16th, 9.050; Callahan, 29th, 8.575; Kaminer, 30T, 8.575; Palay, 34T, 8.450; Mathews, 51, 7.9; Schwartz, 63, 7.5. Floor – Zuckerman, 11th, 9.2; Palay, 12T, 9.125; Mathews, 31T, 8.575; Schwartz, 40T, 8.425; Weiss, 50T, 8.2; Callahan, 91st, 6.3.
