Columbus East’s Reagan Mount perfoms a leap on her beam routine against Owen Valley Feb. 22 at Columbus East High School.
The Republic file photo
If Columbus East gymnastics co-coaches Katie Menefee and Melissa Dishinger are hoping for one thing this season, it’s for the Olympians to be relatively injury free.
East was hit hard by injuries last season. Nearly all of the varsity gymnasts missed some time because of injuries, and the Olympians did not make it out of the sectional as a team for the first time in several years.
“I think in gymnastics in any season that is the key, to keep everybody healthy,” Dishinger said. “That’s always our goal.”
“Our goal is to make our girls strong enough to kind of avoid those injuries,” Menefee added. “There are some injuries that we just have no control over, and they happen. We’re hoping that everyone will be 100 percent.”
East lost its top two gymnasts to graduation in individual state qualifier Taylen Lane and regional qualifier Elise LaSell. The returning Olympians practiced two to three times a week for much of the offseason to try to stay conditioned so that when they began the season, they weren’t behind on skills.
“We had a couple injuries in the offseason, but most everybody is going to be ready to compete,” Dishinger said.
“I think we’re both really excited about this season to see where it ends up at the end.”
Six gymnasts return with varsity experience. Seniors Reagan Mount, Carlie Menefee and Winter Shaver and juniors Makyna Mullins and Cami Warren look to be the leaders this season, and sophomore Shelby Kendrick could join them when she returns from an injury.
“I think we’re very lucky this year,” Dishinger said. “We have a very talented team, and we have a pretty deep team. We have several that we could choose from for each event.”
Sophomore Barb May and senior Chloe Ramsey were JV competitors last season. They are joined by a trio of newcomers — freshman Amelia Fay and juniors Maggie Weisner and Leighanna Shelton, who are out for high school gymnastics for the first time.
“We learned last year that those girls can be important,” Katie Menefee said. “So we train them like the rest of the team so that they are ready if that opportunity was to present itself.”
The Olympians open their season earlier than usual when they travel to Seymour today.
“We’re excited,” Katie Menefee said. “We have new routines. We have a lot of new skills that we’re trying to put in those routines, so we’re just trying to incorporate the new things that we’ve been working with all summer. We have routines going and new skills, and we’re excited to see what they do.”
