For the first meet of the season, it was a good performance for the Columbus North gymnastics team.
Although some areas could still improve, it was a solid outing for the Bull Dogs, who defeated Franklin Central 103.525 to 96.575 in Wednesday’s season opener.
Hannah Perry won the all-around for North with a 35.200, which was enough to edge out teammate Hayden Harper, who had a 35.0 for a runner-up finish. Ellie McIntier was fourth with a 32.975.
“I was honestly not expecting this, but I pulled through and came out on top,” Perry said.
This was North’s first meet in the post-Reese Euler era. Euler was an All-State gymnast for the Bull Dogs the past four years and is now on the Cheer Team at Kentucky.
Perry and Harper are most likely the 1-2 punch for North most of the season.
“I think especially after the last couple years when Reese wasn’t on her ‘A’ game, the pressure tends to fall me and Hayden,” Perry said. “It’s definitely not out of the ordinary for us, but I think we’ve so far really taken it and ran with it.”
Perry captured first place on the vault (9.125) and floor (9.125) and was second on the bars (8.5) and beam (8.45). Harper finished in first place on the beam (9.45) and was second on the vault (9.0) and third on the bars (8.4).
McIntier was third on the beam (8.3) and fourth on the vault (8.5) and bars (8.375).
“This was about where I’d thought we’d be. I was hoping maybe we’d be a point or two higher than that, but we had our share of falls,” North coach Bob Arthur said. “But our first meet, the jitters and not being at peak condition, I don’t mind starting with that (score) as long as I see improvement week by week. That is all I ask of the girls, is either do something new or improve upon what you’ve done.”
North will visit crosstown rival Columbus East in a dual match scheduled at 6 p.m. Monday.
