Spartans make mark in Metro League Championships

Four gymnasts from Bainbridge Island had top-10 finishes at the Metro League Championships last week.

The Bainbridge Spartans finished third overall as a team, thanks to a standout showing by Katharine Cooper, with the Metro title going to Ballard High School.

Ballard finished with a total score of 175.175, followed by Holy Names Academy (174.425), then Bainbridge (167.550).

Cooper finished second for the Spartans in the vault with a score of 9.4.

Teammate Kareese Pippinger popped a score of 8.65 and tied for 10th place with Sierra Snavlin of Holy Names.

Nikolina Klinkenberg of BHS scored an 8.6 and finished in a 12th-place tie with Sophie Ledley of Roosevelt.

Also scoring for the Spartans: Kegan Daniels, 14th place (8.55); Mariko Ronan, 18th place (8.375); and Nicole Holmes, tie for 22nd (8.1).

The Spartans won second and third place on the balance beam.

Cooper again claimed the No. 2 spot, with a score of 9.225. Ronan was third with a score of 9.1.

Rounding out the top 10 for Bainbridge was Avery Gray, who scored 8.775 on beam.

Klinkenberg was 25th in the event (7.9), followed by Pippinger in 26th place (7.75). Daniels forged a tie in 33rd place, with a score of 7.2.

On the uneven parallel bars, Cooper again paced the Spartans and was third with a score of 9.125.

Ronan snagged sixth place (8.55) while Gray finished in a tie for 14th place (7.35).

Nicole Houmes secured 20th place in another tie for Bainbridge, with a score of 6.7.

Pippinger found herself in a three-way tie for 30th, with a score of 6.1. Daniels also scored in the event, coming in at 56th (3.25).

On the floor exercise, Cooper again tied Snavlin of HNA. The pair finished fourth with a score of 9.55.

Ronan was eighth (9.425) for the Spartans.

Klinkenberg landed in the 25th spot, with a score of 8.55.

Bainbridge’s other top finishers on floor were Daniels, 31st (7.975); Pippinger, 32nd (7.9); and Elizabeth Olliffe, tie for 35th (7.75).

In all-around scores, Cooper was second in the Metro Championships with a total of 37.3. She finished just 0.275 behind the Metro champion, Gracyn Brunette of Ingraham (37.575).

Ronan was sixth for BHS in the all-around (35.45); Pippinger, 19th (30.4); Daniels, 28th, (26.975); Klinkenberg, 29th (25.05); Gray, 47th (16.125); Houmes, 50th, tie (14.8); and Olliffe, 70th (7.75).