LACEY — Next up, the postseason.
The Port Angeles gymnastics team heads into Thursday’s sub-district meet coming off its first team win of the regular season in a four-team meet at Black Hills Gymnastics Center.
The Roughriders scored 155.95 points to beat out Capital, Olympia and North Thurston.
“Our girls have improved so much this season and it shows in our first win this last Saturday,” Port Angeles senior team captain Madylan Coventon said.
“No matter how far we go in postseason, I will be happy and proud of my girls for all they have done and the work they have put into this demanding sport.
“But of course I’m hoping we can push through to districts as a team.”
The Riders will face North Kitsap, North Thurston, Timberline and Kingston at the sub-district meet Thursday at Mount Rainier High School in Des Moines.
Three teams, 12 individuals and four all-around gymnasts will advance to the district meet Saturday, Feb. 15, also at Mount Rainier.
“I’m so proud of our team so far and feel so lucky to be part of such an amazing group of girls,” Katie Gibson, also a senior and a team captain, said.
“Everyone puts in so much effort everyday at practice and it really shows when we compete.
“We’re going to keep doing awesome, and I think we’ll be seeing a lot of our girls competing in postseason.”
Gibson was one of four Riders to place in the all-around top 10, placing ninth with a score of 30.1. That included a 10th-place showing in the floor exercise with a 7.9.
Coventon was the highest Port Angeles placer in the all-around, taking fourth with a 32.85.
She was third on the bars (7.5), fourth on the floor (9.25, her best mark of the season), fourth on the beam (8.1) and eighth on the vault (8.0).
Freshman Maya Wharton earned fifth place with an all-around score of 31.85. She was one of two Riders with a runner-up finish in an event, placing second on the balance beam with a score of 8.2.
Wharton also took sixth on both the bars (7.25) and the floor with a personal season-best 8.7.
Senior Alysa Martinez was the other Port Angeles gymnast with a second-place showing, doing so on the floor with a season-best score of 9.45.
Martinez was fifth in the all-around (31.25), which included fifth place on the beam with an 8.0.
Other top 10 finishers for the Riders were Shay-Lyn Gracey, ninth in the vault (8.0) and eighth on the beam (7.7), and Laura Rooney, who was 10th on the beam (7.5).
Port Angeles is closing out its first season with its new coaching staff — head coach Megan Hoover, assistant coach Jackie Mangano and volunteer coach Pete Erickson.
“Coach Hoover and I are extremely proud of the girls this year,” Mangano said.
“It was a huge adjustment for them to get an entirely new coaching staff. The start of the season was a learning curve for everyone, but looking from start to finish, I would say it has been a very successful year.”
Martinez, another team captain, said this has been a “very inspiring year” for the Port Angeles gymnastics team.
“I’ve been on the team for four years, and a gymnast along with Mady [Coventon] and Katie [Gibson] for over 10 years,” Martinez said.
“Moving forwards towards postseason, I am more confident in my teammates than I have ever been.”
