NHS girls gymnastics sweep

Coming off a sweep of the top five places in the all-around competition at a three-team meet this past week in Thornton, the Niwot High School girls gymnastics team appears ready to test the deeper waters of 4A state competition -- especially considering that two of their top gymnasts were less than 100% and did not finish among that top tier.

Once again behind the stellar performance of junior Maeve Flentie, the Cougars continued their meet-to-meet improvement, finishing with 175.40 points, their highest team total in their three early season outings.

“I’m looking at the same thing– the improvement of a couple of points at each meet shows that the girls are continuing to improve,” Niwot coach Marisa Purcell explained. “I think they are doing really well right now as a team. We have a couple athletes out right now and that’s the hardest part. But some of the others have stepped up and that’s great to see.”

The injury bug continued to nip at senior Lilly O’Neill and took a bite out of classmate Heidi Herbert. Both were able to participate in limited capacity this past week, but neither had much success. So, it was up to their teammates to step up and they did.

Flentie took her second straight all-around meet title with a four-event total of 36.05, finishing first on the uneven bars and beam competitions, while taking second on the floor exercise.

“She’s had the same routines for a while, so she’s very comfortable with them and she’s super consistent,” Purcell said of Flentie, noting that only the vault has given her junior leader issues so far this season. “She knows what she needs to do to clean things up and gain back a few tenths. It’s still one of those things that she’s continuing to work on.”

Teammate Kylee Schlepp had her best all-around performance of the season finishing in second place behind Flentie with a 35.30 total. The sophomore, who won the 4A state individual title a year ago on the vault, took first on that apparatus with a 9.25 score, narrowly edging out Paige Garguilo (9.20) from Roosevelt. Schlepp added a third-place finish on the beam.

“Kylee was another one that had a really good meet, especially coming off our first meet where she didn’t compete. She’s been able to take that and is working to get back in the lineup,” Purcell said. “She’s really showing what hard work can do and she’s getting back the skills that she had.”

The other top all-around finishers who rounded out the sweep for the Cougars were Claire Vardas (34.55), Isabella Foster (34.45) and Cloe Pereira (33.90). Foster wound up second to Flentie on the uneven bars for the group’s top individual finish.

In an ironic scheduling anomaly, the Cougars host their final three-team home meet of the season on Wednesday evening.

“It is what it is, but it could be good,” Purcell predicted about the remaining meets on the road. “The question is, can you focus on going and being at different gyms and having different equipment and not just being on the equipment you’re used to. That’s the way it is at the end of the season so it’s good for them to get out and start having those away meets with the other apparatus and focusing on that. So that part is good.”

In addition to Wednesday’s meet, which will be Senior Night to celebrate those gymnasts who will be participating in their final home event on the Niwot gym floor, the Cougars will also participate in the Overland Invitational on Saturday morning. The invitational will bring together top teams from across the state and give the Cougars their first idea of how they stack up in the 4A pecking order.

“The Overland Invitational is basically a preview for state,” Purcell said, adding, “We’re trying to be state contenders, so there’ll be some pressure going into it to see where we are against some of the top 4A and 5A teams.”