THE SPORTS DESK
Prep Gymnastics: Commonwealth District championships
YOUTH BENEFITS STAFFORD
AS YOUNG TEAM RETAINS
ITS COMMONWEALTH TITLE
BY KURT NICOLL
FOR THE FREE LANCE–STAR
If Naomi Jones lost any sleep over the surprising news she received during Thursday’s practice, she hid the fact well at Saturday’s Commonwealth District gymnastics meet.
Competing in all-around for the first time this season, the talented Stafford freshman posted 9’s or better in three events to finish fourth in all-around, and wound up taking the top medal on floor with a 9.8.
“It was a real shocker, but I guess I knew I could do it,” said Jones, who began competing in the sport as a 7-year-old. “I have faith in myself, I just went out and did what I had to do.”
All four Stafford all-around competitors scored over 34 points to place in the top seven. Despite scoring a somewhat disappointing 34.375 on uneven bars, the Indians dominated the meet to successfully retain the team title.
Host Brooke Point beat out Colonial Forge for the second regional team berth, sparked by the efforts of all-around champion Dylana Wilhelm, who claimed three firsts.
“We’re really excited to be going to regionals,” the senior said. “It’s something the team hasn’t done in a long time. I try to help all my teammates out, encouraging and motivating them to do their best.”
The regional meet is scheduled for Thursday at Freedom High School in South Riding. Competition is tentatively scheduled to start at 5 p.m.
Black–Hawks coach Sarah Brown was elated by her team’s effort and credits the two seniors, Kayla Lyall and Wilhelm, with showing the way.
“They’re very hard workers and that has spread through the team,” the fourth-year coach said. “This is the best meet we had all season. It was because they wanted it and pushed each other.”
Although not liking to make predictions, veteran all-around Ashley Hinton likes the Indians’ chances to do well this week and expects Battlefield to be Stafford’s chief competition.
“From the start, we were really confident when we were able to count some huge scores on both floor and vault,” Hinton said. “And we just kept it rolling.
“Definitely we need to clean up bars and beam because that’s where our low scores were, but we’re pretty solid now,” she concluded.
Hinton was a model of consistency, placing second on floor, beam and all-around and third on bars and vault.
Although finishing last in the team standings, the North Stafford Wolverines had cause for smiles.
Due to injuries, the squad had only had three competitors, and Siobhan Bernard qualified for regionals in all four events, as well as all-around.
Bernard won on bars with a 9.375, and was particularly pleased with her 9.7 on floor, placing third in the event.
“I came out strong. It looked like I was having a good time and the crowd reaction was great,” she said concerning her floor routine.
It was nice redemption for Bernard, who missed last year’s regionals due to a foot injury.
Looking ahead to Thursday’s competition, she said: “I think I’m going to have a lot of adrenaline, nerves and excitement. Hopefully it will all balance out.”
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Team scores: 1. Stafford (S) 148.3, 2. Brooke Point (BP) 139.25, 3. Colonial Forge (CF) 134.3, 4. Mountain View (MV) 128, 5. Orange 113.575, 6. North Stafford (NS) 79.3.
Beam: 1. Wilhelm (BP) 9.775, 2. Hinton (S) 9.725, 3. Emily George (S) 9.7, 4. Reeves (S) 9.6, 5. Jones (S) 9.375, 6. Graves (MV) 9.25, 7. Katy Garrity (MV) 8.825, 8 (tie). Alysia Gray (BP), Clemons (CF) and Dingus (S) 8.675.
Bars: 1. Bernard (NS) 9.375, 2. Wilhelm (BP) 9.275, 3. Hinton (S) 9.2, 4. Madison Amos (S) 9.0, 5. Bush (S) 8.325, 6. Graves (MV) 8.025, 7 (tie). Dingus (S) and Haley Cooper (CF) 7.85.
Floor: 1. Jones (S) 9.8, 2. Hinton (S) 9.75, 3 (tie). Wilhelm (BP) and Bernard (NS) 9.7, 5 (tie). Jessie Lupi (CF) and Melissa Babin (S) 9.35, 7. George (S) 9.275, 8. Kaya Razor (BP) 9.225.
Vault: 1. Dylana Wilhelm (BP) 9.675, 2. Naomi Jones (S) 9.55, 3. Ashley Hinton (S) 9.525, 4. Brynne Reeves (S) 9.15, 5. Ashley Dingus (S) 9.125, 6. Lauren Graves (MV) 9.05, 7. Siobhan Bernard (NS) 9.025, 8 (tie). Mollie Clemons (CF) and Alexis Bush (S) 8.9.
All-around: 1. Wilhelm (BP) 38.425, 2. Hinton (S) 38.2, 3. Bernard (NS) 36.7, 4. Jones (S) 35.975.
