It was an emotional night for the two seniors on the Emporia High gymnastics squad. Carissa Schmitz even had a few tears trickle as she and Kayla Baker were acknowledged before Monday night’s Emporia Triangular, the final home meet of the year for EHS.
Then Schmitz, Baker and their teammates got on the floor and had their best overall night of the season.
The Spartans set 10 personal records, including two each by Schmitz and Baker, and also set a team best with a score of 86.5. Newton’s 100.7 score won the meet, and Hutchinson also finished ahead of Emporia at 96.8.
“I’m really proud of the girls, the two seniors we had,” EHS coach Barbara Clark said. “It’s kind of nerve-wracking, being their last meet at home, trying to do really well in front of their team and the crowd. But I think they did pretty well. ... We’re improving every week with all the personal bests.”
The Spartans were most impressive on the floor, with personal bests from Schmitz, Madison Reiber, Maranda Rust, Haley Risley and Kaitlyn Miller. Schmitz’s 8.35 score was good for fifth place in the event, and Miller finished seventh.
Miller finished sixth in the vault with an 8.3 and seventh on the floor, also with an 8.3. Schmitz, who joined the gymnastics team for her senior year, recorded her other personal best with a 7.8 on the vault.
“This is my first year doing it, and this being my last home meet, it was really emotional,” Schmitz said. “I’ve been doing gymnastics for a long time, with trampoline and tumbling, and it really brings back all these memories ever since I was a little kid.
“So I just really wanted to do my best today and give it my all, and hopefully it shone through on tonight’s performance.”
Baker set a personal record on the bars with a 4.55 and on the balance beam with a 7.4. Kristina McAuley put up her best performance on the bars, recording a 4.3, and Risley set a new personal mark on the beam with a 7.
Both Emporia High seniors will be at Emporia State University next year to study nursing. Though Baker wasn’t as emotional during senior recognitions, she acknowledged that her last home meet was “kind of sad.”
“But I did a good job, so I’m really happy to leave that behind,” she said. “Doing a really good job in my last home meet, it’s pretty exciting.”
9010003 (anonymous) says...
The author of this story failed to mention Kayla Baker's beam placing, she earned a 7.4, which led her to place 6th on the beam.
October 23, 2008 at 11:18 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )