A Little Extra
Spartans set 11 season bests on senior night
By Michael Ashford
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
In the mind of Emporia High gymnast Tarra Nichols, it all came down to the point of a toe.
On Tuesday night at the Emporia High Triangular, Nichols had her best showing of the season, turning in a score of 34.5 in the all-around competition to finish third. But following the meet, it was her second-place performance on the bars that had Nichols second-guessing herself.
Nichols finished as the runner-up on bars to Hutchinson’s Lauren Morris, who scored an 8.95 to Nichols’ 8.9.
“The bar routine itself was good, but not good enough because (Morris) beat me by half a tenth of a point, and that’s basically a toe-point,” Nichols said. “I figure I could have given just a little extra and I would have been first tonight.”
Extra toe-point or not, Nichols still turned in her best all-around performance of the year on the strength of season-bests on the bars, beam (8.5) and floor (8.7).
“I have been going to practice and been doing the best I can and preparing as best as I could, and it really paid off,” Nichols said.
Coach Barbara Clark called Nichols’ bar routine “really clean,” but it was Nichols’ third-place performance on the beam that had the coach grinning.
“She has struggled on beam so much this year,” Clark said, “and for her to have a no-fall routine at the last home meet, I’m so happy for her.”
Nichols led the way for 11 season bests for the Spartans, who were playing host to the final regular-season meet of the year. The Spartans finished third out of three teams with a season-best 98.9 points, while Hutchinson took second with 98.95 points and Newton won the team title with 102.35 points.
Clark, however, was pleased with her squad’s effort, with the lone sore spot being a shaky team performance on the vault.
“They worked real hard. I think that they focused on a lot of their skills that they’ve been working on and tried to get better each meet,” Clark said. “I felt like we needed to work a little bit more on vault. We could have been stronger there. But overall, I think the girls had a good time — last meet, senior night, it was exciting for them.”
Being that it was senior night, it was only appropriate that the only Spartan senior competing, Libby England — senior Stephanie Ternes is recovering from a concussion — also turned in a memorable outing in her final home invitational.
England finished with season-bests on the bars (7.45) and on the floor (8.5) to help the Spartans to season-best team scores in both events.
“It was a really emotional meet for me, but I had two personal bests‚ so that was good,” England said. “On floor, I added some new tricks there — some high-superior stuff — and I think that bumped up my score a little more. I think it being my last meet pumped me up a little bit more than normal.”
England’s floor score was good enough for fourth place. Hayley Fry also turned in two placings, coming in fifth on the vault and sixth on the bars.
Heading into next week’s Regional meet, Clark said she was pleased with where her team is at, especially with the return of Ternes becoming more and more likely.
“I kind of like that we didn’t beat Hutchinson, because that should only make us work harder,” Clark said. “Stephanie had her first day without a headache (Tuesday), so if she can go a week without one, we should get her back.
“The top three teams at Regionals go to State, but only the top two teams get a plaque. I want that plaque ... this year for those girls.”
EHS volleyball rolls
to 2 wins in Lawrence
The Emporia High volleyball team had a strong showing Tuesday in Lawrence, defeating teams from Immaculata and Topeka West while falling to the home squad, Lawrence.
Against Topeka West, the Spartans fell behind in Game One, 1-0, before rattling off nine straight points to take control, led by senior Jessica Muckenthaler’s three kills and an ace serve by Jessica Decker during the run.
The Spartans rolled to a 25-10 victory in Game One and followed with a 25-20 win in Game Two, which was capped by a Topeka West passing error and two Decker kills, to sweep the match, 2-0.
In the match against Immaculata, Muckenthaler and Summer Naab combined for 20 kills while Beth Krause added five service aces to help Emporia High roll over Immaculata, 2-0 (25-14, 25-10).
The Spartans fell behind early in both games against Lawrence and could never catch up, falling in straight games, 25-19, 25-18.
For the quad, Muckenthaler led the Spartans with 30 kills, while Naab chipped in 13. EHS also dropped in 18 service aces — including 11 against Immaculata.
Spartan boys soccer falls to Wichita Heights
The Emporia High boys soccer team fell, 1-0, to Wichita Heights Tuesday night after the Falcons scored their lone goal in the second half to down the Spartans.
Emporia High closes out regular-season play on Thursday when it travels to Blue Valley.