Columbus North’s Laney Acton competes on the bars against Owen Valley at Columbus North High School, in Columbus, Ind., Thursday, February 15, 2024.
Nicholas Shaw | For The Republic
One day after Owen Valley visited Columbus East, the Patriots were back in town to take on Columbus North.
This time, Owen Valley did not leave town with a victory. The Bull Dogs celebrated senior night with a 105.35 to 94.25 triumph to close the regular season.
North competed without a pair of varsity gymnasts. Hannah Perry aggravated an elbow injury in Monday’s Conference Indiana meet, and Ellie McIntier was sick.
Still, the Bull Dogs claimed the top three spots in the all-around. Junior Reese Euler swept the vault (9.55), bars (9.3), beam (9.55) and floor (9.5) to win the all-around with a season-best 37.9.
“I’m really happy with how I did tonight, especially going into sectional and regional,” Euler said. “We’ve had a lot of meets this week, so a lot of repetition and practice through those meets helped tonight, I think.”
Laney Acton, North’s lone varsity senior, finished second on the floor (8.975) and third on the vault (8.6) and bars (8.05) on her way to a second-place all-around finish with a 33.375.
“It was kind of bittersweet because I’ve been doing gymnastics my entire life, and this was my last home meet,” Acton said. “So I really tried to do my best, and I felt like we all came out here and did that. It’s definitely one of my better scores. It’s the only time I stayed on beam this year. This is how I’d close it out if I had to choose.”
Emerson Chambers placed second on the vault (8.8) and bars (8.1) and fourth on the floor (8.225) in taking third in the all-around with a 33.25. Arwyn Tian was second on the beam (8.575) and fourth on the bars (7.675).
“We’re pretty excited,” North coach Bob Arthur said. “Emerson and Laney both had a good meet. Arwyn had a good meet on beam. Four out of four stayed on the beam, so that’s always encouraging. (Euler) has done pretty well.”
