Claire Thompson had a full week in between Columbus North’s previous gymnastics meet to Tuesday’s home opener against Owen Valley, so she decided to put in a new floor routine.
That turned out to be the only event the senior did not win. Thompson won the other three events and the all-around competition to lead the third-ranked Bull Dogs to a 108.575 to 98.6 victory.
“I have a couple improvements to do,” Thompson said. “I just got a new floor routine this week, so that went a little rough. I haven’t had much practice with it. I just need to practice that a few more times, and then I think we’ll be good.”
Thompson finished with a 37.775 in the all-around. She won the vault (9.475), bars (9.55) and beam (9.475) and took second on the floor (9.275).
North sophomore Sami Heathcote won the floor with a 9.4. Heathcote also finished second on the vault (9.15), bars (9.125), beam (9.225) and the all-around (36.9).
“I felt pretty good,” Heathcote said. “I was a little bit off, but I hit 4 for 4 (events), where at (Columbus) East, I fell on vault.”
Alayne Davis took third on the bars (8.5) on her way to a third-place all-around finish with a 33.25. Tova Edwards was third on the vault (8.9) and fourth on the floor (7.975).
Kaitlyn Calandro, who had missed the Bull Dogs’ first two meets while in concussion protocol, did the beam and floor Tuesday. She was North’s third scorer on the beam with a 8.225.
“I would like to see our third and fourth scores come up,” North co-coach Bob Arthur said. “We need more consistency there. On bars, we need to add a couple skills, and vaulting needs to be more consistent.”
The Bull Dogs’ score was well short of the 111.65 they scored in the season opener at Bloomington South, but better than the 107.9 it put up in the loss at East.
“Tonight was an improvement,” North co-coach Sandy Freshour said. “We threw in some new skills, and we feel like we will probably see some inconsistency with these kiddos as we go on track to replace (the graduated) Ashley Holliday’s legacy. We’re still working hard at it. The fact that we made some goals and made some improvements, that’s the direction we want to go.”
