State Gymnastics Championships Results

The Sidney Gymnastics Club traveled to Carrol College in Helena to compete with 475 athletes from 15 gyms in the 2017 Montana State Gymnastics Championships on March 18 and 19.

2017 marked the sixth year Pat and Jan McWilliams have taken the Sidney Gymnastics Club Level 3 and Level 4 teams to the Montana State Gymnastics Meet, but this year was definitely different:

Coach Pat McWilliams: "The first five years, the State Championships were divided into two divisions; some years 'East & West' and some years 'Small Team & Large Team.' First, Second, and Third place banners were awarded in each division, six opportunities to place top three. We generally did quite well in the small team division, bringing home three State banners the last three years. This year-2016/2017-however, every gym competed in the same division. Only three opportunities to place top three."

This made the competition both exciting and intimidating. It was intimidating because schools of all sizes were tossed into one competition basket to come up with the top three winners. It is the gymnastics equivalent of a Montana State Basketball Championship where all divisions, Class C, Class B, Class A, and Class AA were thrown together to duke it out for a single State Championship.

It was exciting because it was an opportunity to see how the SGC team stacked up against every gym in the state-not just the smaller ones.

It meant that the little Sidney Gymnastics Team from a town of five thousand, in a 3,700 square foot facility, with a team selected from 200ish students was competing with Bozeman and Billings teams lodged in 20,000 square foot facilities and having teams selected from 1,300 to 1,500 students.

Question: How would Sidney do? Answer: Quite well thank you very much! While they didn't come home with a top three banner, they garnished a lot of attention from the big gyms with how well they competed and how close they came! SGC was in contention for a top three finish both in Level 3 and Level 4.

Level 4 Team Competition: First place, Lone Mountain (Bozeman) 111.550; second place, Billings 110.875; third place, Flathead (Kalispell) 110.350; fourth place, Sidney 110:150; fifth place, Velocity (Hamilton) 109.250; sixth place, Mount Helena 109.250; seventh place, Great Falls 108.850; eighth place, Capital City (Helena) 108.200; ninth place, Golden Triangle (Conrad) 107.750; tenth place, Mismo (Missoula) 104.275; Devil Dog (Glendive) 101.650. In the Level 4 competition, Sidney missed third place by only 2 tenths of 1 point; and second place by 7 tenths.

Coach Jan McWilliams: "While Lone Mountain with its 24 competitors was too dominating for anyone to touch, there was quite a dog fight for the second and third spots. The competition for second through fourth place was so close, that on any given day Billings, Flathead, and SGC could have each occupied any one of those three positions. We had the smallest group of the three with 9 gymnasts, but we were within inches of pulling off an upset.

Level 4 Individual Competition Top Ten Finish:

Junior B: Kambre Kloker rocked this division, earning State titles on the vault, beam, and floor. Kambre Kloker: Vault: first place, 9.100; bars fourth place, 9.550; first place, beam 9.200; first place, floor 8.550; second place, AA 36.675. Macy Tjelde: fourth place, vault 8.775; bars 8.250; beam 8.050; floor 7.700; AA 32.775.

Junior C: Allison Thiel: Vault, third place, 9.000; bars, fifth place, 8:850; beam, ninth place, 8.800; floor fifth place, 8.675; AA fifth place, 35.325. Kylie Schoepp: Vault ninth place, 8.625; bars 7.225; beam 8.600; floor, sixth place, 8.600; AA 33.175.

Senior A: Allison Axtman: Vault, fifth place, 8.600; bars, second place, 9.000; beam, tenth place, 8.525; floor, third place, 8.900; AA, fifth place, 35.025.

Senior B: Marleah Campbell had great success snagging State championships on bars and floor.

Marleah Campbell: Vault, sixth place, 8.775; bars, first place, 9.375; beam, seventh place, 9.100; floor, first place, 9.525; AA, second place, 36.775.

Senior C: Taylor McPherson: Vault, fifth place, 9.000; bars, third place, 9.250; beam, sixth place, 9.000; floor sixth place, 8.925; AA, fifth place, 36.175. Lacie Selting: Vault, ninth place, 8.625; bars, sixth place, 8.750; beam, fifth place, 9.125; floor, seventh place, 8.850; AA, seventh place, 35.350.

Senior D: Riley Jimison: Vault, fourth place, 8.850; bars 8.325; beam, fifth place, 8.825; floor 8.525; AA. ninth place, 34.525.

Level 3 Team Competition: First place: Lone Mountain 114.325; second place, Velocity 113.500; third place, Flathead 111.775; fourth place, Mismo 111.650; fifth place, Sidney 111.250; sixth place, Capital City 111.100; seventh place, Mount Helena 110.750; eighth place, Great Falls; ninth place, Northern Pacific (Miles City); tenth place, Eastern (Circle) 108.275; eleventh place, Devil Dog 107.100; twelfth place, Golden Triangle 106.900; Smileys (Great Falls) 100.575.

In the Level 3 team competition, Lone Mountain and Velocity ran away with first and second, but there was an absolute melee in the fight for third with four teams-Flathead, Mismo, Sidney, and Capital City all within a point of each other at 111; with all four teams falling within a difference of only six tenths.

Level 3 Individual Competition Top Ten Finish

Junior A: Taylor Carmack: Vault, second place, 9.200; bars, second place, 9.125; beam, seventh place, 8.700; floor, eighth place, 9.000; AA 36.025. Sophia Schoepp: Vault 8.475; bars, eighth place, 8.500; beam 8.175; floor 8.850; AA 34.000.

Junior B: Averi Riedel: Vault, sixth place, 8.900; bars, fourth place, 8:800; beam, tenth place, 8.600; floor, ninth place, 9:150: AA, seventh place, 35.450. Isabella Baisch: Vault 8.500; bars 7.450; beam fifth place, 8.775; floor 9.000; AA 33.725,

Junior C: Morgan Kindopp: Vault, ninth place, 9:025; bars, sixth place, 9:000; beam, second place, 9.250; floor, fourth place, 9.575; AA, fifth place. 36.850. Natalie Judd: Vault 8.800; bars 7.700; beam 8.275; floor 8.825; AA 33.600.

Junior D: Avery Barker balanced her way to a State Championship on the beam and had the highest All Around Score of every SGC gymnast at 37.450. Avery Barker: Vault, third place, 9.350; bars, sixth place, 9.150; beam, first place, 9.425; floor, fifth place, 9.525; AA 37.450. Emma Coughlin: Vault, seventh place, 9.225; bars, fourth place, 9.250; beam, ninth place, 8.875; floor, seventh place, 36.650. Kenzie Gaffield: Vault 8.900; bars 8.775; beam 8.000; floor 9.075; AA 34.750.

Senior B: Hailey Getchell: Vault, eighth place, 9.100; bars 8.000; beam 7.650; floor 8.125; AA 34.875.

Senior D: Tyra Witt: Vault 8.600; bars, second place, 9.125; beam, seventh place, 8.600; floor 8.350; AA, eighth place, 32.875.

(Photos by Kari McPherson)