Rocky Mountain played host as the Lobos and Thornton clashed in a regular season gymnastics dual meet on Wednesday.

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment has approved variances for Season C sports, paving the way for those sports to begin practice over the next week.

Sports in Season C include: field hockey, football, gymnastics, boys soccer, unified bowling and girls volleyball. This will mark the first-ever sanctioned season for unified bowling.

Field hockey, gymnastics, boys soccer, unified bowling and girls volleyball begin practice on March 8, and competition on March 15. Football begins practice on March 4 for the 48 teams that did not participate during Season A, and competition on March 18.

Complete dates are available on the approved calendar.

Each sport has sport-specific modifications in place this season.

CDPHE variance approvals are required for a high school sport season to begin outside of the current participant dial levels. This allows student participants statewide to participate aligned with education-based models.

The complete letter from CDPHE, including information regarding safety implementations mandated by CDPHE for each sport, is available here.

(Paul Soriano)

INDIANAPOLIS — Changes introduced for the 2020-21 high school girls gymnastics season again explore composition thanks to efforts to streamline the category for efficient evaluation.

The clean-up work to composition, in addition to standardizing fall time throughout the rules, were among 14 rules changes recommended by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) Girls Gymnastics Rules Committee. All rules changes were subsequently approved by the NFHS Board of Directors and cover the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons.

“The rules committee, which is made up of coaches, judges, and state administrators, worked as a team to make these changes to the rules book in an effort to enhance the sport of gymnastics,” said Stephanie Hauser, Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA) assistant director and chair of the NFHS Girls Gymnastics Rules Committee. “The insight from each of the committee members added perspective to the group discussion with the focus centered on the value of education-based gymnastics.”

As it had two years ago, the rules committee placed an emphasis on composition, thereby, impacting Rules 7-3-3, 8-3-3 and 9-3-3. This year’s tweaks eliminate redundant language and streamline the composition category for ease of use.

“The intent of the composition category is to evaluate the structure of the routine,” said Julie Cochran, NFHS director of sports and liaison to the Girls Gymnastics Rules Committee. “By reducing the number of deductions and combining similar deductions, the revised composition category will provide a more efficient method of evaluation.”

Balance beam and floor exercise composition requirements had redundant categories eliminated, while the choice of elements category in composition was redefined and increased to 0.30 on uneven bars. Cochran said the committee believes its guidelines for composition deductions will better assist judges in identifying composition deficiencies and, consequently, result in appropriate deductions.

The standardization of a 45-second fall time was among other significant changes addressed by the rules committee. As part of Rule 8-2-1, dealing with balance beam, the committee made modifications allowing gymnasts 45 seconds to remount after a fall as opposed to the previous 30-second time limit.

The newly adopted 45-second fall time also affects Rule 2-2-1b(13). The rule now indicates a gymnast’s exercise will be terminated if the gymnast exceeds the 45-second fall time limit on the uneven bars and beam. According to Cochran, the implementation of a 45-second fall time strengthens the rules committee’s emphasis on athlete safety.

Other new rules for 2020-21 focus on vault equipment and deductions, as well as clarification for the awarding of Advanced High Superior (AHS) credit to an element.

Rule 6-1-1e now specifies that tape, chalk or other substances may not be used on the Vault Table.  Changes to the vault category also include Rule 6-4-2a, which specifies gymnasts can receive up to a 0.30 deduction for failure to pass through the vertical.

The committee also introduced new language clarifying the amount of twist needed for an element to be awarded AHS credit in Difficulty and Bonus.

Both Rules 8-5c and 9-5c now state that AHS elements listed in the rules book with a 1/1, 1½ or 2/1 twist or more must add a ½ to the listed AHS to be considered different. Adding a ¼ may still be awarded an AHS in difficulty but will not make the element different when awarding AHS’s in the Bonus category. Balance Beam leap and jump elements listed in the rules book with a ½ or ¾ twist may be considered different when an additional ¼ twist is added.

Cochran emphasized that “the rules committee continues to focus on implementing rules that feature an objective approach to evaluating routines as well as supporting efforts toward risk minimization.”

A complete listing of the gymnastics rules changes, including edited definitions, will be available on the NFHS website at www.nfhs.org. Click on “Activities & Sports” at the top of the home page and select “Gymnastics-Girls.”

Girls gymnastics featured 18,658 participants throughout 1,578 schools, according to the 2018-19 NFHS High School Athletics Participation Survey.

The 2019 all-state gymnastics teams are presented by CHSAANow.com, ColoradoPreps.com and MaxPreps.

These teams were created based upon results at the state meet. The following criteria was used:

• Athletes who placed in the top four of an event were named to the first team.
• Athletes who placed fifth-eighth of an event were named to the second team.
• The athletes who won all-around championships in their classification were named gymnast of the year.
• Coaches who led their teams teams to championships were named coaches of the year.

[divider]

Class 5A

Gymnast of the year: Kaylie Berens, Pomona

Coach of the year: Tracey Boychuk, Pomona

[divider]

Class 4A

Gymnast of the year: Mia Curry, Niwot

Coach of the year: Stacey Folmar, Elizabeth

Jeffco Preps With Pleuss is a monthly roundup of Jeffco prep highlights hosted by Dennis Pleuss, Jeffco Public Schools’ sports information director. This month’s edition features Columbine winning its first softball state championship. We look back at deep playoff runs by Golden softball and boys soccer teams. Pomona’s gymnastics team made history becoming the first program to win five straight team titles in the largest classification. Ralston Valley and D’Evelyn advanced to the state volleyball tournament at the Denver Coliseum. We close out the program with playoff football highlights from Columbine, Pomona, Ralston Valley and Green Mountain — all programs that have advanced to the state semifinals.

(Paul Soriano/CHSAANow.com)

THORNTON — Thornton’s Hailey Like put the rest of Class 5A on notice Saturday at the state gymnastics individual event finals.

She’s one of the best in Colorado, and the freshman is not going anywhere anytime soon. 

Two days after finishing fourth in the all-around competition on Thursday night, Like, a student at Horizon who competes with Thornton, finished first in the balance beam (9.625) and the vault (9.725) and finished third in the uneven bars (9.5) and the floor exercise (9.625) as she announced her presence with authority.

The fact that she’s only a freshman is not lost on her, and for a brief moment on Saturday it gave her pause. But not for very long.

“Going into today I felt a little bit nervous because I’m only a freshman and I knew that everybody else here (for finals) is more of an upperclassman,” she admitted. “But going through the meet I realized that even though I am a freshman I can’t be underestimated and that I am as good as all of them.”

You can say that again.

Beam and vault were the two events in 5A’s first rotation, and Like, not to mention the rest of her Thornton teammates, really loved her performances.

She scored a 9.625 in the beam to finish ahead of Overland’s Bailey Rodriguez (9.525), then moved over to the vault, where she scored a 9.725 to finish ahead of Pomona’s Mia Tims (9.65) and Kaylie Berens (9.65), the two-time 5A all-around champion.

“It feels great,” Like said. “I feel really accomplished and I’m glad that my team was here to support me.”

In the second rotation, Like scored a 9.625 in the floor exercise to place third behind champion Mabry Robinson of Overland (9.85) and Berens (9.7). She then scored a 9.5 in the bars to finish behind champion Isabella Gee of Lakewood (9.6) and Kalise Newson (9.525) of Pomona.

“Bars and floor are two of my harder events,” Like revealed.

For Thornton head coach Phil Sailas, the results were not unexpected.

“I knew we had a great chance at winning beam and vault, so it was definitely not a surprise to me for her to do that,” he said. “She’s fantastic. Everything she does, she does well. She’s perfect. She is very meticulous about how she does everything.”

Despite being a freshman, Like was ready to roll at the state meet.

“She always has a game-face on. She is always ready to rock and roll. It doesn’t seem like she ever gets rattled,” said Sailas. “To have a gymnast like that … she’s just very precise and has no nerves. That’s want you want out of a gymnast.

“She’s a little rockstar. And she’s a freshman.”

In 4A, Mia Curry of Niwot followed up her all-around championship from Friday night with a first-place finish in the floor exercise on Saturday as she tallied a 9.5 score to finish ahead of of Green Mountain’ Lucy Meinert (9.375) and Emily Kruse (9.3).

“I did super well,” Curry said of her routine. “I went really hard for all of my tumbling passes, and tried to make my leaps as pretty as they could be and my jumps as pretty as they could be. Smiling was key, too. It all happened, and it all paid off.”

“She did great,” said Niwot coach Marisa Purcell. “She’s a sophomore. She’s definitely one of the younger ones on our team. She came out and just gave it her all. I told her just to have fun. She went out and had a blast. She showed everything off. She performed her routine very well.”

In other 4A individual events, Mya Nguyen of Standley Lake won the uneven bars with a score of 9.475, Sarah Hitchcock of Green Mountain captured the vault with a score of 9.5 and Meinert earned the top podium spot in the balance beam with a score of 9.375.

Individual championships were claimed on the final day of the state gymnastics meet at Thornton High School.

(Paul Soriano/CHSAANow.com)

THORNTON — Elizabeth won the Class 4A state gymnastics championship Friday night, and in the process, gained a large measure of satisfaction.

The Cardinals, motivated by a third-place finish at state in 2018, returned to the top by defeating Green Mountain, 179.700-177.375. 

“We definitely wanted to come back from that finish,” admitted head coach Stacey Folmar. “That was not satisfying to any of us all year long. We went right back to work immediately after the season.”

Elizabeth was led by senior Austin Coleman and freshman Madison Montoya, who finished third and fourth, respectively, in the all-around competition behind champion Mia Curry of Niwot and Sarah Hitchcock of Green Mountain.

“Finishing third was great but it really motivated us to work our butts off to improve in our gymnastics and I think it brought us closer together as a team,” said Coleman. “That’s why we did so well tonight because of our team and our coaches. It was just amazing.”

The last time Elizabeth won the state title was in 2017. Overall, it marks the fifth gymnastics crown in the school’s history.

“I am so ecstatically proud of these girls,” said Folmar. “They knew what they needed to do, they came in and hit … they all had each other’s backs. It was just a really fun year. This is a really special group of seniors for me and it’s great to just bring it to fruition.”

Curry, a sophomore, finished with an all-around score of 37.000. She finished first in the floor exercise (9.475), second in the uneven bars (9.2), third in the balance beam (9.175) and fifth in the vault (9.15). 

But it wasn’t enough for the Cougars, last year’s state champions who finished third with a team score of 174.525.

“Going into the meet I was here for my team trying to get the best scores I could get for them to get us that team score that could help us win,” Curry revealed. “Me winning all-around was just the icing on the cake. I did the best that I could.”

Elizabeth held a slight edge over Green Mountain after the first two rotations (90.775-87.6), but knew that there was still work to be done.

“It was tough, because when we start on floor and vault, those are traditionally higher-scoring events, so we knew not to get very comfortable, because those are the easiest two to hit, for us anyway,” Folmar admitted. “To start that second half on beam they way that they did … they just nailed it; they rocked it. 

“They knew what they needed to do and did it,” she added. “After balance beam, we were feeling really good.”

Coleman won the beam with a score of 9.35 to lead the Cardinals to a first-place finish in the event, and after the meet, she beamed with pride at the thought of what had just transpired.

“I am feeling great! I’m very happy right now,” she said. “We worked so hard this whole entire season and it just really showed through tonight. I’m trying to hold back the tears. It’s amazing! I can’t even describe this feeling right now.”

As she watched her team hug, scream, cry and celebrate after winning the trophy, Folmar couldn’t help but smile as she thought of her seniors, who won two state championships.

“It’s a special group for me, and I am just so happy to see them go out this way.”

Photos from the Class 4A state gymnastics meet at Thornton HS.

(Paul Soriano)

THORNTON — Pomona finished on the floor but still crashed through the ceiling.

The Class 5A Panthers made history Thursday night, becoming the first large-classification team to win five-straight state gymnastics championships.

And for the fourth-straight year, Pomona edged Overland (188.550-187.525) to keep hold of its crown.

For head coach Tracey Boychuk, it’s an ending that will never get old.

“Every year is so different and so special,” she revealed. “The no-quit in these girls is amazing. We’ve had so many injuries, and we’ve had pneumonia. We’ve had so much to fight through this year, and these girls were not going to let themselves be disappointed walking out of here tonight.”

Through three rotations, the Panthers led the Trailblazers by less than one point (141.55-140.65). But in its final event of the night, the floor exercise, Pomona electrified the standing-room-only crowd with a score of 47.000.

Overland, meanwhile, finished the competition with a score of 46.875 on the balance beam.

The Panthers were led by senior Kaylie Berens, who won the all-around title for the second time in her illustrious career with a score of 38.825. She finished first in both the vault (9.800) and the beam (9.675), second in the uneven bars (9.675) and third in the floor exercise (9.675).

Berens’ performance also helped to erase bittersweet memories of the 2018 season, when an injury during warmups at the state meet kept her from competing.

“Throughout my whole high school career, it has always been about the team,” she admitted. “Last year it was really hard for me to not help the team. But coming out tonight and being 100 percent was such an amazing feeling; it was so different from last year.”

But Berens, who captured the all-around title as a sophomore in 2017, shrugged off any mention of her personal accomplishments.

“I didn’t come into this thinking about the individual (title) whatsoever,” she confessed. “I really, really was all about the team. I wanted to get the five-peat. That’s all I wanted, and it’s awesome. It’s such an amazing feeling to win the all-around as well, but tonight was definitely more for the team than anything else.”

And after the night ended with yet another state championship victory — not to mention the seventh all-around title in school history — Boychuk marveled at her star’s unselfishness.

“I talked to Kaylie before the meet about it, and she said ‘I don’t really care about the all-around. Winning the team title is all I am really focused on,’ said Boychuk. “I think that’s just the icing on the cake for all of us. She did a great job … a great job.”

Pomona junior Mia Tims finished second in the all-around competition with a score of 38.700, while teammate Kalise Newson, a senior, finished tied for third in the all-around with a score of 38.200. Julia Butler, another senior, placed 11th with a score of 35.925.

Tims won the uneven bars with a score of 9.825, finished second in the vault (9.750) and placed third in the beam (9.600). Newson finished second in the beam (9.625) and was fourth in the vault (9.675).

“They were focused and they hit everything,” Boychuk said. “They did everything I could have ever asked them to do.”

Overland had four gymnasts in the top-nine of the all-around competition. Mabry Robinson, who earned the high-score of the evening (9.950) in the floor exercise, tied for third place with a score of 38.200. Mattea Dolan finished sixth (37.900), Samantha Demoss was seventh (37.450) and Bailey Rodriguez finished ninth (36.825).

University holds the small-classification record with seven consecutive state championships from 1979-1985.

Next season, Pomona will hope to inch a little closer to that milestone at the 2020 state championship meet.

“Refocusing every year is key,” said Boychuk of the Panthers’ dominating run. “That’s something that as a coaching staff we work really hard on every year. It has been a different top six every year. The first year that we won (2015) these girls weren’t even in high school yet. They came in as freshmen and were like ‘OK, we’re going to do this.’ I have 10 seniors on the team this year, and they were not going to let this not happen.”

Added Berens: “I definitely had the time of my life (this season). I enjoy doing gymnastics so much, and it’s just so much fun to be out here. Doing it for the team, and doing it for yourself … it’s unbelievable. It was a long, hard year. We had a multitude of injuries. One of our best girls had pneumonia a week ago. I was home sick yesterday. We had to fight a lot. That’s the thing with our team: we all know how to pull together when it’s needed.”