Although Columbus North’s team score in Wednesday night’s gymnastics season opener wasn’t close to what the Bull Dogs normally put up, they actually scored a little higher than in last year’s opener.
North had no trouble in posting a victory, claiming the top four all-around finishes in a 105-75-82.4 win against Franklin Central.
"We have in practices been less consistent than in the past couple of years, so I think we expected our score would be a little lower (than usual)," North co-coach Sandy Freshour said.
Sophomore Emily Moore, who finished third in the state in the all-around last season, less than a tenth-of-a-point out of first, scored 35.425 on Wednesday. That was five-hundreths of a point ahead of senior teammate Sami Heathcote.
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Heathcote, who was making her return to gymnastics after missing all of last season while recovering from symptoms from a concussion, won the beam (8.925) and floor (9.95) and finished second in the vault (9.3) and third on the bars (8.2).
"For the first meet back, it was definitely pretty solid," Heathcote said. "I was pretty surprised. I was thinking I might fall on floor because I haven’t quite gotten my endurance to where I had been in the past."
Moore won the vault (9.475) and bars (9.35) and finished second in the floor (8.95). She fell twice on the beam and took fourth on that event with a 7.725.
"It was probably just nerves for the first meet," Moore said. "I’m not happy about it, but we have all of the rest of this year."
Ashley Niebrugge finished third in the all-around with a 33.675. She placed second on the beam (8.6), third on the floor (8.75) and fourth on the bars (7.875).
Alayne Davis took fourth in the all-around with a 32.475. She was third on the vault (8.975) and fourth on the floor (8.575).
Also for the Bull Dogs, freshman Lindsey Mullis finished second on the bars with an 8.625 in her first high school meet.
North scored a 27.25 on the vault, 26.175 on the bars, 25.25 on the beam and 26.575 on the floor.
"I kind of anticipated somewhere around a 27 on floor and on vault," North co-coach Bob Arthur said. "I knew that we were going to be just not up to their normal scores yet, but I’m not worried about that. The competition is actually one of the best motivators for the girls, so it’s all good."
