Lawrence High sophomore Josie Hickerson jumps in the air to perform a stunt on the beam during the state meet on Saturday, Oct. 22, 2016 at Shawnee Mission South.

Overland Park ? Lawrence High and Free State gymnastics coach Brooke Santee knew that Saturday’s state meet was going to be tightly contested.

The margin of error was thin for both teams, and both schools responded with strong scores at Shawnee Mission South.

Lawrence took home fourth with a score of 100.575, while Free State finished sixth with a mark of 99.725.

“I’m really proud of all them,” Santee said. “From third all the way down to eighth, we knew it was going to be close.”

The Lions finished less than a point away from taking home a medal. SM West claimed the bronze with a score of 101.3. Olathe East (108.200) and Newton (107.975) finished well above the pack at first and second, respectively.

Josie Hickerson was the only gymnast from the two Lawrence schools to place in an event.

The LHS sophomore finished tied for sixth in vault with a mark of 9.05. Afterward, Hickerson noted that her confidence has grown after closing out her campaign strongly. She placed sixth in the Sunflower League meet on the floor exercise.

“I’ve made so many improvements,” Hickerson said. “I’ve added a bunch of difficulty. My confidence has gone up so that has helped with my consistency.”

Hickerson’s feat at state was more impressive after deciding to switch things up on vault the day before the meet. In Friday’s practice, however, it did not work as she fell on her face multiple times.

But with a more spacious gym, Hickerson was able to nail down her vault at the most opportune time.

“Her front hand spring is beautiful,” Santee said. “We have limited space in our gym. So she was feeling really good yesterday and I said we should just twist it. We started throwing them yesterday and we got it stood up at the meet.”

Though Hickerson was the only one to medal in an event, multiple athletes posted personal-best performances against the highest competition.

Free State senior Landon Prideaux closed out her gymnastics career with what she felt like was her best outing. Prideaux scored a 7.425 on the beam to finish 28th.

“I had a really good beam routine,” Prideaux said. “I gave it my all because I knew it was my last chance.”

The Firebirds’ highest scorer was freshman Liliana King-Wilson, who finished 12th all-around. King-Wilson scored a 33.85, with her highest mark coming on the vault at 9.0. Hickerson ended one spot above her on the all-around with 33.950 mark.

“I have mostly freshmen and sophomores on my team,” Santee said. “And a lot of the sophomores are new this year. So we went from not having routines to fourth and sixth in the state. So I’m really proud of them.”

State Gymnastics Meet

Saturday at Shawnee Mission South

Team Scores — 1. Olathe East, 108.200; 2. Newton, 107.875; 3. SM West, 101.300; 4. Lawrence, 100.575; 5. SM East, 99.750; 6. Free State, 99.725; 7. SM Northwest, 98.525; 8. SM South, 95.550.

Lawrence High/Free State results

All-Around — 11. Josie Hickerson, LHS, 33.950; 12. Liliana King-Wilson, FS, 33.850; 13. Eden Kingery, LHS, 33.725; 15. Jordyn Leon, LHS, 32.850; 17. Monica Kimmel, FS, 32.300; 24. Kenzie Rorabaugh, FS, 31.100; 26. Eliana Seidner, LHS, 30.400; 32. Klara Hinson, LHS, 25.600.

Vault — T-6. Hickerson, 9.050; 8. King-Wilson, 9.000; 15. Kingery, 8.800; 20. Seidner, 8.550; 21. Leon, 8.500; 33. Klara Hinson, 8.100; T-37. Rorabaugh, 8.000; 43. Landon Prideaux, 7.800; 44. Lily Thompson, FS, 7.600.

Bars — 7. King-Wilson, 8.275; T-14. Grace Mayhew, FS, 7.950; T-14. Leon, 7.950; 16. Kingery, 7.900; 22. Hickerson, 7.775; 27. Rorabaugh, 7.400; 32. Seidner, 7.075; 36. Kimmel, 6.775; 40. Prideaux, 5.225; 42. Hinson, 4.800.

Beam — 12. Mayhew, 8.575; 16. Hickerson, 8.175; 17. King-Wilson, 8.150; 18. Kimmel, 8.075; 22. Kingery, 7.850; 23. Leon, 7.700; 28. Prideaux, 7.425; 29. Rorabaugh, 7.275; 35. Seidner, 7.050; 44. Hinson, 5.025.

Floor — 7. Kingery, 9.175; 9. Kimmel, 9.000; 10. Hickerson, 8.950; T-14. Leon, 8.700; T-18. Rorabaugh, 8.425; T-18. King-Wilson, 8.425; 34. Seidner, 7.725; 35. Hinson, 7.675; T-36. Kaliyah Townsend, FS, 7.600; 41. Jessica Rohe, FS, 7.225.