The first gymnastics meet ever at Free State High might not have been a perfect 10, but still was deemed a success.
Although the gym took Lawrence High and Free State co-head coaches Kathy Johnson and Suzie Godsil the afternoon to set up, the meet started 20 minutes late and lasted 3 hours, 40 minutes, the coaches were pleased with the end result.
"I think everybody had a lot of fun. They enjoyed coming to Lawrence and competing in air conditioning," Godsil said. "It was quite a challenge to set up the gym -- it had never been set up for a gymnastics meet before -- so we had a lot of work beforehand.
"But I think it went really well. We had a great crowd for the first meet."
On the mats, Shawnee Mission East emerged victorious with a team score of 101.75, followed by SM Northwest (98.35), LHS (97) and Free State (86).
Senior Amanda Rose paced the Lions with a fifth-place finish in the all-around competition, including a tie for first in the uneven bars and a tie for third in the balance beam.
"I thought I did really good for my first meet," said Rose, who finished fourth in the bars at state last year. "I didn't think I was going to do my back on the beam and I did it. I was really proud."
Free State was led by senior Erin Hickey, who finished third in the vault, third in the floor routine and tied for third in the beam -- all with a sprained thumb she suffered while innertubing at the lake on Labor Day.
"It went pretty well," said Hickey, who returned to the team after taking a year off for club gymnastics. "I didn't get to compete in bars which I'm really frustrated about. But I was really happy with my performance."
Lawrence High freshman Molly Hoss finished fifth in the all-around thanks to a fourth-place finish in the floor and sixth-place finish on the bars. LHS sophomore Sarah Fisher earned a fifth-place prize -- leis were doled out instead of medals -- in the bars.
"Really there weren't too many surprises," Godsil said. "Lawrence High School ended up with a 97. The potential is there to increase several points just in the next meet or two, especially since this was the first one. I can see them breaking the 100-mark without any problem with a little bit more practice."
-- Robert Sinclair's phone message number is 832-7185. His e-mail address is rsinclair@ljworld.com.
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