EHS gymnasts fall in home dual to Newton
Davies finishes second in all-around
By Sam Wilson
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Abbey Davies hadn’t crossed 30 points with her all-around score in three weeks. The senior gymnast for Emporia High got well above the mark Tuesday night, scoring a season-best 31.675 points in the Spartans’ home dual against Newton. She finished second in the all-around standings.
“I did a lot better on beam, which I was super excited about,” Davies said. “And my floor routine, I made a couple changes which I think made it cleaner.”
EHS lost the dual meet. The Spartans had a season-high team score of 84.675 points. The Railers won with a team score of 95.825 points.
Davies scored an 8.05 on beam, a season-high score and good for second at the meet. Her routine involves a high difficulty level, leaving her at high risk of a fall but also giving her a high reward if she can complete the routine successfully. Davies said she saw most of the routine’s potential Tuesday night, though she said there’s still work to do on the back handspring.
She also picked up a season-high on floor Tuesday, scoring .3 points better than her previous high with an 8.7, good for third at Tuesday’s dual. Davies also scored a season-high on bars, scoring a 6.925 to finish third. She said bars proved to be a bit disappointing because she executed some of the more difficult aspects of her routine but took a fall on one of the easier portions. Davies scored an 8.00 on vault and finished fourth.
The Spartans’ mark of 84.675 points was a more than three-point improvement over the previous season high set last week at home.
“That’s been our goal, to improve our team score every time,” EHS coach Angela Podrebarac said. “We’ve met that goal. That’s something that our team should be proud of, and work harder for state.”
Ashley Wheeler returned to the EHS lineup Tuesday night after missing the last two meets with an ankle injury. She competed in all four events and came up with an all-around score of 26.425, good for sixth at the meet. Wheeler finished in the top six in three events, taking fifth on vault with a 7.80. She also finished sixth on bars at 4.475 and sixth on floor at 7.85. She scored a 6.30 on beam.
“She’s such a hard worker and just very motivated, very dedicated,” Podrebarac said. “She wanted to be back and worked through some pain tonight and was excited to do so.”
Leighton Hainline was the Spartans’ third varsity all-arounder, scoring 24.60 points and finishing seventh in the all-around standings. Hainline finished fourth on floor with a score of 8.275 and took sixth on beam with a score of 6.45. She scored a 7.45 on vault and a 2.425 on bars.
Liz Heit finished sixth on vault with a score of 7.75. Gabby Brown scored a 7.40. Arashae Harris scored a 6.20 on beam, and Amber Wells scored a 6.15. Wells scored a 4.10 on bars, while Miranda Miller scored a 3.60. Harris scored a 7.8 on her floor routine and Heit scored a 7.1.
The Spartans will next compete at the state meet at noon Saturday at Shawnee Mission Northwest.