Enumclaw Gymnasts Finish a Close Second at State

The Enumclaw High School gymnasts closed the team portion of their inaugural season by claiming second place in the 2011 WIAA 1A/2A/3A  state team competition  with a season high score of 173.575; this puts them just narrowly behind state champion Kamiakin who scored 174.275 on Friday night at the Tacoma Dome Exhibition Hall.

"We did really good," Enumclaw coach Ben Skipworth said. "I am really proud of the team -- to get second place in our first year is unheard of."

That it was the Hornets' first appearance on the state championship stage did not faze freshman Olivia Bannerot, who placed fifth overall in the all-around competition. 

"It was amazing; we had so much energy," Bannerot said. "We wanted to show everyone what Enumclaw Hornets gymnastics was all about."

About her performance, " I thought I did pretty well," she said. "I just tried to go all out."

"Olivia was amazing -- very solid all day." Skipworth said.

Enumclaw won two events, posting season high scores of 46.175 on the floor exercise and 46.350 on the vault.  

With the first season coming to a close, both Bannerot and Sarah Lurry felt plenty of mixed emotions after the meet.

"We got our highest score of the season which is great," Bannerot said. "It also is a bittersweet meet for me because its my last meet with Kelsey [Messer] and Sarah [Lurry]. I've trained with Sarah since I was four years old."

Lurry said, " I feel pretty good overall. I love the fact we got second place."

Lurry had a mission a year ago in getting a gymnastics program in place at Enumclaw High School. With just one individual competition remaining on Saturday, she leaves the Enumclaw program with a sense of pride and what she helped build this season. 

"I definitely feel its mission accomplished to be part of the first gymnastics team at Enumclaw High School," Lurry said. "I definitely feel my teammates and I left it all out on the gymnastics floor. "

As the Hornets look ahead to 2012, Skipworth eagerly anticipates  the opportunity to build on this very successful first season. "We are really young," he said. "We only lose two seniors in Kelsey Messer and Sarah Lurry but we will have younger girls step up to replace them."

Enumclaw concludes the state championship meet with the individual event finals starting at 10:40 a.m on Saturday at the Tacoma Dome Exhibition Hall.

Team Scores:  1. Kamiakin 174.275, 2. Enumclaw 173.575, 3. Columbia River 164.875, 4. Auburn Mountainview 164.450, 5. Bainbridge 161.325, 6. Mt.Si 159.325, 7. Mercer Island, 159.175, 8. Kennedy 144.400

Enumclaw Top Performers

All-Around: Olivia Bannerot 36.575, Kelsey Messer, 35.750

Vault: Olivia Bannerot 9.525, Kelsey Messer 9.525, Sarah Lurry 9.50, Molly Mattheis, 9.425

Beam:  Kelsey Messer 9.40, Olivia Bannerot 9.0

Floor:  Kelsey Messer 9.475, Olivia Bannerot 9.45

Bars: Olivia Bannerot 8.60, Molly Mattheis 8.075