NHS girls gymnastics springs to victory

After finishing eighth in the Class 4A state championship a year ago, Niwot's Maeve Flentie was looking at this season as a year to solidify her position as one of the state's best gymnasts. Last Wednesday at home, Flentie took a big step forward, winning the All-Around title at the Cougar-hosted, three-team meet.

The junior led her team to a team-total of 173.5 points, two points better than the Cougars' meet total of 171 in their prior competition. Roosevelt High School finished in second place at 169.8.

Flentie's path to the All-Around title came by way of top scores on the floor exercise and uneven bars. Her score on the floor of 9.15 bettered the score of 9.0 by teammate Kylee Schlepp. On the uneven bars, Flentie notched a score of 8.95. In addition to those top performances, Flentie finished in a third-place tie with 8.9 on the balance beam.

Consistency was also on display for the Cougars' senior leader, Heidi Herbert, who finished second to Flentie in the All-Around competition. Herbert was among the top six finishers in all four individual events. Her top finish came on the uneven bars where she scored 8.6 for a second-place tie.

Another bright spot for the Niwot gymnasts and Coach Marisa Purcell was the return of Lilly O'Neill. The senior sat out the first meet of the season with a hamstring injury. Purcell was hoping to get O'Neill back into competition slowly and O'Neill took full advantage of her first outing, placing first on the balance beam with a 9.2 score. She struggled in her other event, the uneven bars, but looks to be making her way back to full competition in the coming weeks.

The Cougars also received top all-around performances from Claire Vardas, who tied for fourth place, and Kylee Schlepp, who wound up the all-around competition in sixth place. Schlepp took second place in the vault competition with a 9.0 score and tied teammate Herbert for sixth on the beam.