Mixture of young, veteran talent leads gymnastics squad

Members of the gymnasts squad celebrate at the end of a meet.

Drew Houfek, Reporter

Although the gymnastics team was not one of the top eight teams that had the opportunity to compete as a team at the state meet, which took place at Shawnee Mission South on Oct. 22, they did send head captain Alaina Urman, senior, and Porsche Mahakijkittichai, freshman, as individuals.

Urman scored an 8.25 and placed 15th on beam at the meet while Mahakijkittichai’s state performance resulted in 27th on floor with a score of 8.1.

“I was pretty much satisfied [with the season], but it could have gone better,” Urman said.

On the other hand, Kristin Ramshaw, head coach, had nothing but praise.

“We had the best overall varsity team that we’ve had in the three years I have been head coach. Our JV was great too,” she said.

Varsity placed in the top three in four out of their ten meets, including a third place finish at the Falcon Invitational, earning them their first trophy. Junior varsity also finished in all but two of their meets in the top three and took first place at the Olathe Quad.

However, the girls did have to battle multiple key injuries that may have limited their potential, which both Urman and Ramshaw noted made it much more difficult to compete.

“It’s hard to watch the girls want to compete, but can’t [due to injury],” Ramshaw said. “But, more than just scores, these girls are amazing people. I’m lucky to have had such a wonderful team this year.”