SEYMOUR — It was not the strongest effort Tuesday night for the Columbus North gymnastics team, but it was enough.
The Bull Dogs worked hard to pull out a 107.525-97.325 win against host Seymour.
North coach Sandy Freshour said her team felt a bit uncomfortable at the start.
“A few of the crowd members were a bit louder than what we are used too,” Freshour said. “It kind of got into our heads to start with but that is all a part of the competition and you just have to stay tough and clear that of your mind and compete.”
Ashley Holliday led the way for the Bull Dogs as she triumphed in the all-around with a 36.625.
Holliday finished first on the vault (9.3) and also on the bars (9.3). She had a fall on the beam but still managed to finish second with an 8.9. She also finished third on the floor exercise with a 9.125.
“I am pretty happy with how the meet went for the most part,” Holliday said. “I improved on my vault, which was good. I was disappointed with my beam, but that’s OK. I have room for improvement as the season goes on.”
Despite the loss, Seymour coach Angie Mellencamp was pleased with her team’s overall performance.
“We are making so much progress with each and every meet,” Mellencamp said. “Jenna Thomas had a great floor score (8.55), and even though she fell off the beam, she cleaned up a lot of her jumps.
“We are two weeks into our season, so now we are going to get into training mode to get our bigger skill sets ready for sectional time,” Mellencamp said.
Mellencamp also had to deal with a couple of injuries in the meet.
Seymour’s Sam Silver suffered an ankle sprain on the vault and Alyssa Goen had a huge fall on her back during her bar routine. Goen was able to continue, and she finished third in the all-around with a 34.925. Goen would also place first on the beam (9.25).
“I was scared at first after seeing my teammate go down (in the vault),” Goen said. “It was really hard, but I stayed focused. I told myself, ‘Relax and forget about that and just do your thing.’”
“She was very mentally tough today,” Mellencamp said of Goen. “Having a big fall from the bars and coming back to nail the beam and floor was huge. She performed great both physically and mentally.”
Goen would finish second on the floor (9.25) and and third on the vault (9.05).
North’s Katrina May placed second in the all-around (36.1) and finished in first on the floor (9.425).
