Kara Kellison expects smiles to be the order of the day this afternoon inside the Free State High gymnasium.

However, the Lawrence High junior knows from first-hand experience that behind every big, fat grin is a big, fat lie.

“Everyone’s going to act calm and collected, but when it comes down to it, everybody’s nerves are just always moving,” said Kellison, drawing on her experiences from last year’s trip to the state gymnastics meet. “And everybody’s going to have butterflies in their stomachs – even the spectators.”

The 2005 edition swings into action at noon today, with both defending champ LHS and Free State, last year’s third-place finisher, among nine teams that will be fighting to overcome that jumbled emotional state while vying for this year’s team title.

They will be joined by Perry-Lecompton’s Jennifer Pogge and a smattering of other individual qualifiers from Kansas who are seeking the all-around title currently held by LHS sophomore Mallory West.

After watching both of her squads earn runner-up finishes last week at their respective regionals, coach Kathy Johnson employed a simple approach in preparation for today’s ultimate test.

“You work on making everything you are doing as clean and as close to perfection as you can make it,” Johnson said. “It’s a tenth (of a point) here, a tenth of a point there, and you throw it all together.

“The goal (today) is to stick everything that they throw.”

LHS enters the meet in a bit of a catch-22. The Lions know they have the talent to follow up on last year’s team title, a belief reinforced when they tallied a higher team score last month at the Sunflower League meet than what they recorded last fall at state.

Just one problem: That number still wasn’t high enough to knock off Olathe East, which has come out ahead of LHS in every meet featuring the two squads this season and enters today’s meet as the favorite.

“Everyone at school’s been asking me, ‘Are you going to beat Olathe East?'” Kellison said. “It’s in the back of everyone’s mind. Even though nobody here (at practice) says anything about it, everybody knows it.”

Johnson also knows it takes just one solid collaborative performance by the Lions to turn the tide.

“They’re a very, very talented group of girls, and they have the complete ability to do that,” Johnson said. “If everybody hits … it will be close, it will be down to the wire. And that’s what the state meet’s all about. It will make it an interesting meet.”

Adding to the intrigue is figuring out where Free State fits into the mix. The Firebirds have battled injury woes all season, but should again be a force to consider, especially given the hurdles they conquered during last Saturday’s regional meet in Newton.

“It was a pretty good performance considering the bars were the wrong size and the beam wasn’t very good,” said Free State freshman Amelia Firns-Hubert, who will be making her first state appearance. “We weren’t able to do the skills we normally do.”

Back on equipment they’re familiar with, Johnson likes her team’s chances to turn in another solid state showing.

“I think their goal is just to have everything hit,” Johnson said. “If they’re healthy and that happens, they’re right up there with the rest of the pack.”