HS gymnastics places 4th at state championship meet

In the gymnastics world, just a fraction of a point can make the difference between ultimate success and shattered dreams. After the 4A state championships last weekend, the Niwot Cougars felt the disappointment of their sport's reality.

As Niwot Coach Marisa Purcell predicted prior to Friday night's team competition at Thornton High School, the girls from Palmer Ridge High School would spring to their first state championship while just tenths of a point would separate the runners-up. After nearly seven hours of competition, it was exactly four and a half tenths of a point (0.450) that separated the silver medalists, Standley Lake High School, and the fourth-place Cougars.

Ending the string of four straight 4A state championships for Elizabeth High School, the senior-laden Palmer Ridge team notched an impressive 183.50 points to easily win the team title. But following the Bears was a log jam of three teams vying for the silver medal. That honor was grabbed by the Alligators from Standley Lake with 179.225 points, followed by Evergreen High School at 179.150, and then Niwot at 178.775. The four-time defending state champion Cardinals finished in fifth place with 175.575 points.

Despite being knocked off the top three team medals podium for the first time in four years, the Cougars posted their highest team total for the entire season at the state championship outing, bettering their previous highwater mark of 178.1 points tallied at their league meet in late October. At the state meet, Niwot won the team competition on the beam with 44.925 points and took third place on the uneven bars but slipped to fifth and sixth places on the vault and floor exercise, respectively, to sink their hopes of finishing in the medals.

The Cougars were led by sophomore Lilly O'Neill who finished tied for fourth place with 36.45 total points in the all-around competition, which was won by Standley Lake's Tessa Grudle for the second year in a row, this time with 37.80 points.

Senior Heidi Herbert closed out her all-around prep career with a four-event total of 35.90 points and 13th place overall, narrowly edging out junior teammate Maeve Flentie's 35.80 total. Flentie finished eighth in the all-around competition at last year's state meet.

For the second year in a row, the Cougars' top individual event finisher was sophomore Kylee Schlepp in the vault competition. Although she was unable to match last year's gold medal, Schlepp did post an outstanding 9.625 score to finish with the silver medal behind the near flawless 9.825 vault score by Evergreen High School's Sydney Burns.

The bronze medal in the beam competition went to O'Neill who posted a 9.425 narrowly losing out to Northfield High School's Ashley Savell (9.50) and Evergreen's Burns (9.45). The Cougars' Flentie took fourth on the beam at 9.375.

The other individual event places taken by the Cougars all came on the uneven bars. Flentie took tenth place at 8.925 to edge out teammates Herbert (8.90) and O'Neill (8.875), who finished eleventh and twelfth, respectively.

A special moment came on Saturday when Niwot's Sophia Keronen became the first Unified athlete to compete at state gymnastics. Keronen also competes with Niwot High's Unified Bowling Team.

Although the Cougars may have hoped to close out their successful season with a higher finish at the state meet, Purcell's team has a great deal to look forward to in 2024. Niwot loses only Herbert from this year's team and will return state qualifiers O'Neill, Flentie, Schlepp, Claire Vardas, Isabelle Foster, Kylie Wilson, and Chloe Pereira as the Cougars vie for their first state championship since 2018.