Lawrence High’s Abby Jones dominated as she has all season, but she had a local crowd rooting her on Saturday afternoon.

“I did the same stuff,” Jones said. “But it helps when our students are there watching.”

Jones completed a clean sweep at the Free State Invitational, winning all four events – vault, bars, beam and floor – and the all-around title at Free State High.

“She did very well on all the events,” said Kathy Johnson, coach at both Free State and Lawrence High. “She’s very hard-working. She’s got natural body lines that look good, and she’s strong. She’s just a very talented gymnast.”

And resilient.

Because of the pounding from years of gymnastics training, she developed a stress fracture to her lower back last year and had to wear a back brace for three months. But she has bounced back in triumphant fashion. She won the all-around at the Shawnee Mission East invite, the Olathe East invite and the Free State invite in the last 10 days.

Lawrence High's Abby Jones smiles after landing a jump on the beam. Jones won the event - and every other - Saturday at Free State High.

Jones, however, was not the only local gymnast to shine Saturday.

Jennifer Pogge, a Perry-Lecompton student who competes for Free State during the regular season, finished second overall and second in the bars. Free State’s Laura Devlin posted a career-high of sixth on the floor. And the Lions’ Kara Kellison finished fourth overall and second on the floor.

“In general, they had pretty good meets today,” Johnson said. “They had some personal bests.”

LHS won the team title and was followed by Shawnee Mission Northwest, Newton, Emporia, Hutchinson and Free State.

Along with Jones, the Lions feature Mallory West, the state champion in individual all-around the last two years. Reconstructive ankle surgery in March has restricted West to the bars and beam – two exercises that put less strain on the ankle. She finished fourth and second in those events.

Lawrence High's Mallory West competes on the balance beam. West finished second to teammate Abby Jones in the event Saturday at the Free State Invitational.

“Mallory’s doing very well for what she can do, but she’s very limited with her ankles,” Johnson said. “It’s frustrating for her because she’s a competitor, and she wants to do everything.”

West still experiences pain in her ankle, but she has curtailed her routine to prevent further injury this early in the season. She is saving her body for another shot at state.

“We’re just kind of holding off,” West said. “Hopefully by the end of the season – when the meets are extremely important – I’ll be able to compete in all four.”

After Saturday’s invitational, all of the athletes participated in an unusual team-bonding activity.

Typically, while the scorekeepers tally their totals, the gymnasts engage in a handstand competition. Because the Free State and LHS gymnasts often break out into song and dance before practice, they pushed for a game of freeze dance to hip-hop and pop tunes.

“We really like dancing,” West said. “It was pretty exciting – something different.”

But for Jones, the outcome of the day was very much the same.