Gymnastics team finishes fifth in first time at state, Yardley finishes third on the floor

Meagen Tajalle, Features Editor
Originally published March 29, 2016

On Feb. 19, the gymnastics team traveled to the Tacoma Dome to compete in the state championship meet. Individual athletes have competed in the past, but this year is the first time they have competed as a team.

They came away ranked fifth, and senior Clara Yardley was ranked fourteenth with an all-around score of 34.150. She also tied for third with her floor routine, and tied for tenth on beam.

Yardley, who has been on the team since her freshman year, felt confident about her floor routine, but was nervous about beam. “Everyone gets nervous about beam, it’s a four inch wide piece of wood so it’s easy to fall off of,” she said.

Others competing were senior Hannah Hudson, who placed fourth on bars and seventh overall at districts before moving on to state, and sophomore Amirah Karam, who placed sixth on beam and seventh overall at districts.

Even those who traveled but didn’t compete were feeling proud and excited as the season came to a close. There was a heightened sense of camaraderie this year, since the team moved together from metros to districts, and eventually to state.

“Everyone is really encouraging, and it’s a really big deal to be there,” Karam said. “Last year we had five people go individually, but since we were going as a team [this year] everyone felt more included.”

Yardley thinks that the team’s bond is part of what helped them get to state. “I think that the whole mentality of the team was really really positive [this season],” Yardley said. “Everyone just had a great time and up to the last day of practice everyone was working really hard whether they were varsity competitors or JV non-competitors.”

Before competing in the championship, the sense of accomplishment overrode nerves for some, since qualifying for state was what they had been working toward all season. “I felt less nervous going into state because it wasn’t like I had anything to qualify to after that,” Hudson said. “It was more of a fun time to show what we had accomplished that season and just do our best and go out and have fun.”