Niwot gymnastics pushes forward despite injuries

The Niwot gymnastics team came off another tough week, and not just because it didn’t win, but also because of injuries.

Sophomores Erica Bortfeldt and Aleigh Trimble, who compete varsity for some events, suffered injuries at the beginning of last week. “We’re not sure if we’ll get them back or not, time will decide,” Head Coach Marisa Purcell said.

Going into their two meets last week, Purcell said the girls were focusing on beam and jumps, and were able to successfully execute what they practiced at their meet against Thornton on Sept. 29.

“On Thursday we really focused on beam and our girls did phenomenal,” Purcell said. “Being able to go into Thursday and have them execute beam as well as they did, I was proud as a coach.”

Senior captain Amelia Sears scored a 9.4 on beam, followed closely by Trimble with a 9.35. All-around competitor sophomore Lindsay Chohon scored a 9.25 on beam, with senior Alexis Carroll right behind her with a 9.2.

The team’s previous performance at the Overland Invite on Sept. 24 wasn’t what they were hoping for, but Purcell was proud of how they turned their attitudes around for the Thornton meet.

“Coming out of the Overland Invite where the girls didn’t do as well,” Purcell explained, “and being able to pick themselves up and get back into the gym, and perform the way they did on Thursday was confidence building.”

Although Niwot lost to Thornton by a score of 172.1 to Thornton’s 174.9, Purcell said the close meet still showed off their great performances.

With no time to practice in between, the team headed to the Broomfield Invitational on Oct. 1, where they came in eighth place out of a total of 12 teams. With multiple girls injured, Purcell said three girls on JV had to step up to compete varsity for their first time.

“I really relied on our veterans—our two captains Lilli Martin and Sears,” Purcell said, “and just really relied on them to help carry the team, and to help those young ones that are coming in for the first time.”

Even though the team came in toward the bottom of the group, Purcell was happy with how they joined together to perform well despite the setbacks.

“Our girls, as a team competing, did so well given the circumstances of losing some and having to come together,” Purcell said of the invitational.

Niwot finished with a score of 172.375, an improvement from its previous meet, and beat Thornton which posted a final score of 172.25. Green Mountain came in just in front of Niwot with a score of 173.075, and Overland took first place with a score of 181.475.

“They had a really fun time, which is good,” Purcell said of the meet. “They came together and I think when it was all said and done, they were very proud of each other for doing what they needed to do.”

Chohon took 10th in all around with a 35.375 and Carroll took sixth place on vault with a score of 9.15. Purcell said Martin also had a good floor routine where she fixed some things she needed to work on, but it wasn’t reflected in her scores.

“Sometimes our scores don’t reflect what we do,” Purcell said. “That’s just the sport we’re in. But I’m very proud of what they’ve accomplished and how hard they’ve worked. It was an overall team atmosphere on Saturday.”

With only two regular meets left in the season, Purcell said the team will be working on cleaning up routines to get them better prepared for state.

“I think we’ll continue to work on cleaning up our routines—the execution,” Purcell said. “That’s the main thing, that they’re tight in everything that they do… it really comes down to that.”

Niwot heads to Thompson Valley for its next meet on Thursday, Oct. 6, followed by its last home meet of the season on Wednesday, Oct. 12 against Broomfield.