Olathe ? An afternoon of watching and hoping was worth the wait for Molly Hoss and Lacey Baxter.

Hoss, a Lawrence High senior, and Baxter, a Free State junior, each snagged medals on the balance beam at the state gymnastics meet on Saturday at Olathe South. But that was after competing early, then waiting for eight more teams ” 40 gymnasts ” to complete their routines.

Hoss’s 9.275 landed her in third, and Baxter was sixth at 9.150.

For Hoss, who finished sixth last year in the floor exercise, it was a nice cap to her senior season.

“Last year I fell on beam,” she said. “So this year I was really happy to do better. I’m rather proud of what I did.”

She just missed medals on the bars and the all-around, placing ninth in each.

Baxter, who played volleyball last year, wasn’t displeased with her showing but thought it could have been better. Her routine, which included a new side dismount she started practicing on Wednesday, had its share of difficulty, but that wasn’t the problem.

“I hit every hard thing I do,” she said. “What it came down to was, the little things that I always nail I didn’t do well. I wobbled a lot more than I normally do.”

Baxter was the only state qualifier from Free State, while the Lions qualified as an entire team. Coming in, LHS coach Kathy Johnson thought Hoss, along with freshman Meredith West, senior Melissa Bowers and sophomores Nicole Jones and Ellie Lloyd, would need to be outstanding for the Lions to finish among the top five.

They were.

Helped by Hoss’ individual performance, the Lions edged Shawnee Mission East, a team with three times as many gymnasts on its roster, by .05 points for fifth.

“You always want a higher finish,” Johnson said. “But that puts us in the top five in the state. That’s cool. We’ll take it.”

Olathe East won the team title, blowing away defending champ Shawnee Mission Northwest 109.650 to 105.425.

Manhattan junior Melanie Weisner won two events and claimed the all-around title, besting Olathe East senior Emily Otto by nearly .3.

State gymnastics meet at Olathe South High

Saturday

Team scores: 1. Olathe East 109.650; 2. Shawnee Mission Northwest 105.425; 3. Manhattan 104.975; 4. Hutchinson 101.875; 5. Lawrence High 101.600; 6. Shawnee Mission East 101.550; 7. Shawnee Mission West 101.375; 8. Olathe South 100.825; 9. Emporia 98.050.

Vault winner: Melanie Weisner, MHS, 9.450.

Bars winner: Weisner, MHS, 9.525.

Beam winner: Emily Otto, OE, 9.375.

Floor winner: Brianna Willard, ON, 9.325.

All around: Weisner, MHS, 37.275.

LHS results

Molly Hoss ” Vault, 8.5 (22); Bars, 9.0 (9); Beam, 9.275 (3); Floor, 8.750 (17), All around, 35.525 (9).

Meredith West ” Vault, 8.4 (25); Bars, 8.55 (18); Beam, 8.575 (21); Floor, 8.30 (31), All around, 33.825 (18).

Melissa Bowers ” Vault, 8.1 (40); Bars, 7.375 (40); Beam, 7.925 (35); Floor, 7.60 (45), All around, 31.0 (32).

Nicole Jones ” Vault, 7.9 (45); Bars, 7.825 (32); Beam, 8.225 (27); Floor, 8.10 (35), All around, 32.050 (29).

Ellie Lloyd ” Vault, 7.7 (49); Floor, 7.450 (46).

FSHS results

Lacey Baxter ” Beam, 9.150 (6); Floor, 8.850 (14).