photo by: John Young

Lawrence High senior Jordyn Leon performs on the balance beam at the Free State Invitational on Saturday morning at FSHS.

As Free State gymnasts closed out a home meet on Saturday with the floor exercise, Lawrence High gymnasts encouraged them from the sideline.

The floor exercise proved to be the biggest difference between the two teams as the Firebirds earned a 26.45 and finished second with an overall score of 95.90 at FSHS. Meanwhile, the Lions notched a 25.45 on the floor and finished third overall with a 95.05 total.

“I think we did a really good job,” LHS and FSHS coach Brooke Santee said. “We just need to clean some stuff up and throw some harder skills. We have some harder skills but it’s still early in the season, so we are trying to clean them up before we throw them in competition.”

It marked the second straight meet the two Lawrence teams were separated by less than a full point. In the first meet of the year on Sept. 7, Lawrence High edged runner-up Free State, 96.4 to 96.2.

photo by: John Young

Lawrence High sophomore Eden Kingery spins around on the uneven bars at the Free State Invitational on Saturday morning at FSHS.

This time around, the two teams flip flopped but ended up finishing behind Newton, which won the meet with a score of 105.075.

“It’s really an incentive to push harder,” Free State senior Landon Prideaux said. “I also like to look at as we are a family. I think it’s us against them, not really us against each other.”

The two teams that practice together pushed each other from the start and throughout the meet.

Both schools earned identical scores on the vault with a 25.3. Free State freshman Liliana King-Wilson finished third overall in the event with a mark of 8.8. LHS sophomore Josie Hickerson’s 8.5 score placed her sixth in vault.

photo by: John Young

Free State High freshman Grace Mayhew competes on the uneven bars at the Free State Invitational on Saturday morning at FSHS.

The Firebirds bested the Lions on the uneven bars, 21.35 to 21.15. Freshman Grace Mayhew, of Free State, notched a 8.15 to take home second. Lawrence senior Jordyn Leon finished fifth in the event with a 7.6 score.

“I felt more prepared,” Leon said.”The first meet is always a bit more difficult. You are just trying to readjust to the competitive mentality. This time I just felt more prepared because I have gone through it before.”

Four total gymnasts from both schools placed on the balance beam. King-Wilson took home the silver with an 8.5 and Hickerson ended up with the third best mark at 8.3.

FSHS freshman Monica Kimmel earned a fourth-place finish with a score of 8.2. Lawrence High sophomore Eden Kingery’s 8.0 mark was good enough to finish sixth. It was the lone event the Lions (23.9) earned a higher mark than the Firebirds (23.8).

On the floor, Kingery’s 8.65 was second, Kimmel finished third with an 8.6, and King-Wilson tied for fifth with a mark of 8.4. Overall, Santee was pleased with the improvements both teams made from the first meet.

“We have started to add some stuff in,” Santee said. “The first meet is making sure everyone has a routine and the second meet is starting to add those skills in and move from there.”

Both teams will travel to the Olathe East Invitational on Thursday at 6 p.m.

Free State Invitational

Saturday at Free State

Team scores: 1. Newton, 105.075; 2. Free State, 95.9; 3. Lawrence 95.05; 4. SM Northwest, 90.7; 5. Emporia, 88.2; 6. SM North, 72.9; 7. SM West, 67.325.

FSHS individual results

Vault — 4. Liliana King-Wilson, 8.8; 9. Grace Mayhew, 8.3; 10. Kenzie Rorabaugh, 8.2; 12. Monica Kimmel, 8.1; 14. Landon Prideaux, 7.7.

Uneven bars — 2. Mayhew, 8.15; 9. Rorabaugh, 6.8; 10. King-Wilson, 6.4; 13. Rebekah Keys, 4.65; 14. Kaliyah Townsend, 4.15.

Balance beam –2. King-Wilson, 8.5; 4. Kimmel, 8.2; 10. Mayhew, 7.1; 11. Prideaux, 7.0; 12. Rorabaugh, 6.9.

Floor — 3. Kimmel, 8.6; 4. Mayhew, 8.45; t-5. King-Wilson, 8.4; 12. Rorabaugh, 7.7; 13. Townsend, 7.6.

All-Around — 8. King-Wilson, 32.1; t-9. Mayhew, 32.00; 17. Rorabuagh, 29.6

LHS individual results

Vault — 6. Josie Hickerson, 8.5; 7. Jordyn Leon, 8.45; 8. Eliana Seidner, 8.35; 11. Kaila Bradfield, 8.15; 13. Eden Kingery, 7.9.

Uneven bars — t-5. Leon, 7.6; 7. Hickerson, 7.2; 11. Kingery, 6.35; 12. Seidner, 6.2; 15. Carly Cooper, 4.10.

Balance beam — 3. Hickerson, 8.3; 6. Kingery, 8.0; 8. Seidner, 7.6; 13. Leon, 6.5; 14. Cooper, 4.4.

Floor — 2. Kingery, 8.65; 9. Leon, 8.05; 10. Hickerson, 8.0; 11. Seidner, 7.9; 14. Hinson, 6.0.

All-Around — t-9. Hickerson, 32.00; 12. Kingery, 30.9; 14. Leon, 30.6; 16. Seidner, 30.05;