Going into Saturday’s Gymnastics State Finals, Chesterton is widely considered the team to beat.
The top-ranked and defending champion Trojans have been the state’s top-scoring team all season and put up scores in the 114s each of the past two weeks in the sectional and regional.
But after that, the other three podium spots figure to be up for grabs. Seventh-ranked Columbus North, which put up the state’s second-best sectional and third-best regional score, hopes to be among those teams.
"I think if we could do that, that would be awesome," North co-coach Sandy Freshour said. "I think where are best chances lie is in each girl looking at what they are capable of doing and trying to be as close to that mark as possible. We’re young, and we’ve had a lot of adversity with some injuries this year, so I don’t think us focusing on others or a top-three finish is going to pay off the biggest dividends. I think each girl just needs to know in her heart what she’s capable of doing and try to bring that to the meet."
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]
The Bull Dogs scored a season-best 111.4 in the Columbus East Sectional. They slipped to a 109.65 in the East Regional, but North co-coach Bob Arthur and East coach Nancy Kirshman said the judging was a little tougher.
Lake Central with a 110.875 was the only team besides Chesterton with a higher regional score than North.
"I guess I’d say I’d be pretty disappointed if we weren’t at least up on the podium in the top four," Arthur said. "A top-three finish would be OK, but I would be thrilled if we could be top two, and if we ended up in first place, it would be a combination of us having one spectacular meet and Chesterton having done some things that they probably didn’t anticipate doing. I’m not saying it can’t be done, but it would be very difficult for us to pick up those kind of points in one week."
The Olympians scored a 104.925 in the regional, the eighth-best of the nine teams that qualified for state.
"I’m not sure we have enough firepower to get in the top four, but you never know what’s going to happen," Kirshman said. "But we’re there. This is a goal we set for ourself. We accomplished that goal, so now we go up there and do the best job we can and see how high we can place."
The locals’ best chance at an individual state title is with North freshman Emily Moore. Moore put up a school-record 38.675 in winning the all-around at the sectional and a 38.4 in winning the regional. Chesterton senior Jordan Bush with a 38.475 is the only gymnast who scored better than Moore last week.
For the season, Moore has the state’s top beam and floor scores.
"Emily definitely has a shot at the all-around title," Arthur said. "If you’re in the top four or five in the all-around, it could be any one of those girls. I think her primary goal is to try to be a state champion on at least one event. But if she were to take the all-around, that would be quite an accomplishment as a freshman for her."
After starting on the beam the past two weeks, the Bull Dogs will begin on the bars at state. East will start on the beam this week.
"We have a few little things that we haven’t added to our routines that can help our scores just a little bit," Kirshman said. "We have a few little quirks on bars and beam still that we hope we can iron out."
This year’s state meet will be held at Noblesville High School for the first time. Ball State’s Worthen Arena, which has hosted the state finals the past eight years, was unavailable this weekend.
These finals also will not include 12-time state champion and perennial contender Valparaiso. The second-ranked Vikings, who were state-runner-up last year, did not make it out of their sectional after experiencing injuries to a couple of top gymnasts.
[sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”If you go” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
Gymnastics State Finals
When: 1 p.m. Saturday (opening ceremonies at 12:30 p.m.)
Where: Noblesville High School, 18111 Cumberland Rd., Noblesville
Admission: $10 (free for preschoolers)
Teams: Columbus East, Columbus North, Angola, Chesterton, Fort Wayne Carroll, Homestead, Lake Central, Portage, Richmond
[sc:pullout-text-end]
