The Mount Si High School gymnastics team overcame some struggles on the bars, using a solid beam event to easily dispatch the Eastlake Wolves 159.25-116.5 in a dual meet last Thursday, Jan. 7, at home.
Georgia Reynolds took the top honors in the all around with a score of 36.2. The Wildcat senior won the vault (8.9) and bars (9.5), and took second on the beam (9.15) and floor (8.65).
Mount Si junior Kennedy Richmond finished second in the all around with a score of 33.05. Richmond won the beam (9.25) and floor (9.2). Those wins helped make up for a rough bars event, where she finished fourth (6.2) after missing on the final skill element of her routine. Both she and Wildcat senior Rachel Karavias failed to complete the skill, known as a “giant,” in which the gymnasts are to make a full turn around the upper of the two uneven bars. Reynolds did complete that and more, helping Mount Si minimize the impact of those low scores.
“(The idea) was to get Rachel and Kennedy’s bar routines to start from a 10.0, so we threw a ‘giant’ to upgrade their routine,” said Mount Si coach Jessica Easthope.
“We might have fallen and our scores might have been a little bit lower, but I think the experience is invaluable,” she added. “I was really glad that they went up there and just attempted it.”
Fans can look for similar attempts in the postseason.
“That’s the routine that we’ve been working toward,” Easthope said. “We’re getting closer with every meet.”
Mount Si rebounded on the beam event, where multiple gymnasts used their feet to save themselves from falling. One which stood out in particular was Lexi Swanson, who had to put all of her weight on her right foot and ankle to keep from falling a second time after having fallen off the beam earlier in the routine.
Swanson finished with a score of 7.6, which she indicated was a personal best in that event.
“I’m just proud. I think I still could’ve done better, though,” Swanson said.
Karavias also took a spill on the beam, but was not injured, and competed on the floor event later on in the meet. Noting that her brother Jordan was in attendance, Karavias said, “I just had to go out there tonight and impress my brother.” Jordan is a senior football and basketball player for the Wildcats.
The Wildcats saw a very nice showing from Elizabeth Holmes. Holmes finished tied for fifth in the all around with teammate Karavias (29.3), using solid performances on the beam (7.9) and floor (8.05) to grab that spot.
This match-up was part of a four-way meet split into two parts: the other was a dual competition between Bellevue and Inglemoor. That meet finished earlier than the Mount Si-Eastlake dual, largely due to a slowdown on the beam due to there being a first-time judge scoring the event.
Mount Si holds its final home meet at 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 14. It will be Senior Night, when seniors Reynolds and Karavias among others will be honored.
