For most athletes, sitting out of their respective sport for close to four years might be detrimental to their skill.
On Tuesday night, freshman Abby Lewis proved otherwise.
Lewis placed second in the all-around competition with a 35.55, helping the Columbus East gymnasts win their second consecutive meet to begin the season, besting Franklin Central 106.35-101.2.
“At the time I was just kind of tired,” Lewis said of her time away from the sport. “I had suffered some broken bones and injuries, so I quit with the intention of getting through middle school and then coming back to compete again in high school.”
East coach Nancy Kirshman has been impressed with Lewis thus far, but also sees much room for improvement.
“After taking those years off from gymnastics, it takes time to put it all back together,” Kirshman said. “When you don’t stick with it, its hard to get your timing back. She is slowly working her way back, but she is a talented girl and we are hoping for big things going forward.”
Lewis who placed second on the bars (8.85), beam (9.0) and floor (9.15) also knows she has room for improvement.
“I would really like to increase my vault score, as it has been my lowest so far, before (Monday’s) Columbus North meet,” Lewis said. “Overall, I’d really like to have my scores for each event in the 9.0s by the end of the year.”
Sophomore Adi Minor provided another top-notch performance for the Olympians, winning the all-around competition (36.65) for the second time in as many meets. She began the night with a score of 9.5 on vault then scored 9.5 on the bars and finished her night with a 9.45 on the floor.
Seena Greiwe, who sat out the first meet, placed third on the beam.
Franklin Central’s Khloe Dykes placed first on the beam (9.25) and third on the bars (8.75) and floor (9.05) to lead the Flashes.
Kirshman was pleased with the increase in East’s overall team score, but stressed it still has a long way to go.
“This is only the beginning,” she said. “We have much more we would like to put in. I like to tell my girls that these meets are all practices. We’re allowed to mess up here. What really counts is when we get to the sectional, regional and state.”
