Adi Minor had trouble finding the right way to describe Columbus East’s first gymnastics win against Columbus North during her four-year high school career.
The senior had just put together her best performance of the season. She won or tied for first place in all four individual events and the all-around Monday night to lead the Olympians to a 109.95 to 107.9 victory, their first against the Bull Dogs since the 2013 East Regional.
“I don’t have any words, honestly,” Minor said. “This is the happiest I’ve been in so long. I cannot be more proud of my team for all that they did tonight. They were aggressive, they left it all out there, they put all the nerves aside and they absolutely killed it.”
Minor, the defending state champion on the bars, broke her own school record on that event with a 9.875. She also won the vault (9.65) and floor (9.575) and tied for first on the beam (9.55) on her way to taking the all-around with a season-best 38.65.
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She had plenty of help.
Taylyn Lane finished third on the vault (9.1), and Taylor Gaskill took third on the floor (9.375), fourth on the bars (8.825) and fourth in the all-around (35.55). Abby Lewis was fourth on the beam (9.1) for East, which had four gymnasts score at least a 9.0 in that event.
“Abby Lewis had a nice night tonight,” East coach Nancy Kirshman said. “One help was getting Taylor back in on all four events. When you go four 9s on beam, that was outstanding for us. We know our floor is strong. We need to improve a little on bars. But I’m pleased for them because this (win) is something they desperately wanted.”
North’s Claire Thompson, the defending state champion on the beam, tied Minor for the win in that event with a 9.55. Thompson also finished second on the vault (9.575) and bars (9.525) and fourth on the floor (9.35) en route to a second-place all-around finish with a 38.0.
Sami Heathcote took second on the floor (9.474), third on the bars (8.975) and beam (9.225) and fourth on the vault (8.9) for a third-place all-around finish with a 36.575.
“We’re still a little shaky,” Thompson said. “It’s our second meet, and of course, it’s against East, which makes us even more nervous because we know that they’re very good and the best competition we have.”
The Olympians outscored the Bull Dogs in all four events. Both teams had their top scores on the floor, with East scoring a 27.775 and North a 27.65.
The Bull Dogs’ overall team score was nearly four points below the 111.65 they put up in Thursday’s season-opening win at Bloomington North.
“We’re going to have to work at getting those third, fourth and fifth scores up and get them consistent,” North co-coach Bob Arthur said. “They did a really good job at Bloomington, but we didn’t quite get that pulled together tonight. We just did not perform to the level that we needed to compete.”
The Bull Dogs were again without senior Kaitlyn Calandro, who is in concussion protocol following a fall in practice prior to the first meet of the season.
“Her experience would have been nice to have on the table,” Arthur said. “But it’s always that ‘Next-man-up’ just like in football.”
