Olathe ? As Sunflower League officials awarded medals to the gymnasts, Lawrence High gymnastics coach Kathy Johnson sat in the stands with her camera ready to capture the memorable moment.

LHS won its first Sunflower League title Tuesday night at the Olathe North gymnasium, recording a 107.975 team score.

“It feels awesome,” senior Kara Kellison said. “(Johnson) really wanted this, and you could tell. It’s kind of nice to give her one.”

LHS finished nine-tenths ahead of second-place Olathe East.

To no one’s surprise, LHS senior Abby Jones helped the Lions achieve their title with a dominating performance. She won the all-around, placing first in bars, first in beam, first in floor and second in vault en route to posting a 38.025 score.

“I got my first 38 ever,” she said. “It’s the highest all-around I’ve ever gotten … Just personally, I wanted to do that forever.”

Jones added a double full – a roundback handspring, layout and two twists – to her floor routine, increasing the difficulty of her performance.

“It paid off,” Johnson said. “It helped her floor score that extra couple tenths.”

However, she experienced one scary moment. After executing a nearly flawless 9.3 on her first vault attempt, Jones banged her head on the apparatus during her second attempt. She then smiled and bowed as if nothing had happened.

“I kind of hit my head on the bottom of it on the way up,” Jones said. “It hurt, but I just hopped up like, ‘I’m all right.'”

Jones was not the only LHS athlete to excel. Junior Mallory West, whose reconstructed ankle limited her to two events, placed third in the bars and fourth in the beam. Kellison placed fourth in the floor.

Despite their accomplishments, several of the LHS girls felt they should have performed better, indicating the Lions will be anything but content heading into Tuesday’s regional meet.

“Today wasn’t our best meet,” Kellison said. “It’s only up from here.”

Free State placed 11th overall, but Johnson, who coaches both LHS and Free State, praised the girls’ performances, including those of Laura Devlin and Jennifer Pogge.

Pogge, a Perry-LeCompton student who competes for Free State until state, finished third in the all-around, second on bars and third on beam. Johnson said Pogge boosted her floor routine by performing to new music – “Bad To The Bone.”

“They did fine. Jennifer had a good meet,” Johnson said. “And Laura had a good meet. We want to get Laura qualified through her region to state.”

Although LHS can revel in its Sunflower League win, the Lions know the two most important meets of the season – regionals and state – loom ahead.

“It kind of completes that trilogy,” Johnson said. “We’re not done. We still have a lot of work.”