The Mount Si gymnastics team opens its third season with a jamboree on Nov. 29th, and the Wildcats look to be better than ever.

Coach Renee Tredo, who will be assisted by Jennifer Batton this year, reports that the turnout was very strong with 28 girls, an increase of 10 from last year. The strong turnout allowed the program to field two teams: A varsity squad of 17 girls, and a junior-varsity squad of five girls.

There are several athletes to watch this season. Leading off the list is Piper Sherbon, who transferred to Mount Si from Sea-Tac’s Tyee High School. A sophomore, Sherbon went to the state tournament last year as a freshman competing on bars. With the Wildcats, she will be competing in the all-around competition (beam, vault, and floor, in addition to bars). Two top freshmen to watch are Casey Scruggs and Kayla Jayne. Both will compete in the all-around competition.

Returning this year for their second year of competition will be sophomores Lauren Paulus and Merritt Kott, who also will both compete in the all around; however, Kott’s strengths are on beam and vault, so look for Mount Si to use her a lot on those apparatus.

The Wildcats’ success now and into the future will be aided by the fact that they have a complete gym on which to compete. Last spring the program received a donation of a new spring floor. This will help the Wildcats out greatly.

The team, according to Tredo, will be more competitive than in the past. In the Kingco Conference, Tredo expects a middle-of-the-pack finish, somewhere around fifth or sixth, with Newport, Issaquah and Mercer Island looking to be the class of the league this year. Considering, though, that this team is getting stronger, this could be a very interesting year for the Wildcat gymnastics program.