Members of the Seymour gymnastics team were glad to perform in a meet Monday night.
After having their opening meet at Columbus East called off last week because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Owls opened their season at Gymnastics Lane with a 92.950-89.650 win over Owen Valley.
Owls coach Angie Mellencamp said the team could have registered a higher total.
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“Our score was OK,” she said. “I was hoping for a little bit higher. If we hadn’t had the falls, we would have been a little bit higher, which is where I was hoping the girls would be. We know what we need to do to get that score up.”
Sophomore Paige Smith led the Owls by placing second in the all-around with a score of 31.10. She won vault with 8.50 and was second in beam with 7.75, third on bars with 6.85 and fifth in the floor exercise with 8.00.
“I think I did pretty well considering I haven’t competed in three years,” she said.
On her approach to the vault, she said, “I ran fast as hard as I could, and I bent my knees for my landing, and it turned out awesome.”
Overall, Smith had some very good moments.
“My floor was good,” she said. “I had a fall on my full, but I picked it up, and I finished it strong. Bars is probably my weakest event, so considering I still got a pretty high score for the team, I’m pretty proud of my routine, and I’m going to work hard on it. On beam, I had a fall, but my execution was good. That’s what the judge liked, and I just showed off the best of my ability, and it really helped.”
The Owls went right back to practice Tuesday and today for Thursday’s meet at Franklin Central.
“Obviously, I’m going to work on my full and bars. I’m not concerned about beam. I was nervous, and I had the shakes,” Smith said.
The Owls performed without three team members against Owen Valley, and Smith said once they are back, the team score will be higher.
“I just love the team,” she said. “We’re all working together and cheering each other on, and the attitude among each other is great, and you learn from gymnastics. You learn responsibility, how to trust yourself, confidence and how you can do stuff if you tell your mind to do it.”
Mellencamp said she was happy the team was able to have a meet at home.
“The girls are very comfortable on this equipment, so it was a good season opener to be at home and to work through nerves,” she said. “Vault was strong tonight. The girls didn’t throw their big vaults tonight. It was more just hitting clean and sticking them, and they definitely did that.”
Falls on the bars were hard to predict.
“On bars, we had a couple falls that we don’t usually have, and I’m going to attribute most of those to nerves,” she said. “We still have a couple skills to throw into our routines as far as the bar routines go, but the girls did well. They had solid routines, and they kept moving. I was really happy with our bars.”
Again, she said first-meet nerves seemed to affect the Owls on the beam.
“Beam was a game of nerves tonight,” Mellencamp said. “We had more falls than I had seen in practices. I think the girls’ nerves got to them. We did have some good combinations hit and get the bonus. Some of these girls haven’t been in front of judges in years. I was happy with beam, but I know we have a long way to go.”
On floor, she said the girls were clean and hit their passes, but there were a couple of falls.
“We got some great tips from the judges as far as what to improve,” Mellencamp said. “We will get back in the gym and try to clean up a few of the things the judges talked to us about in regards to combinations.”
Freshman Savannah Stoffregen said she competed in gymnastics when she was 6 and decided to try out for the team this season because she wanted more practice and wanted another varsity letter, as she’s also a cheerleader and runs cross-country.
She was third in floor with 8.15 and said that is her favorite event.
“I like floor because it’s a lot like cheer,” she said. “It is really fun, and you get to show your personality doing it. You get the music, too, behind it. It gives you a lot more to pump you up. (Floor) felt really good. I was a little nervous before, but once I began, I was completely thinking about my skills and perfecting them.”
Stoffregen performed in the No. 1 position in both floor and beam for the Owls.
“I feel like I really have to push because I am the last one they see and I am the top one for the team,” she said. “Right now, I’m concentrating on these two, but eventually, I will add the other events.”
Tonight’s meet at Franklin Central is scheduled to start at 6:30. Seymour’s next home meet will be Jan. 21 against Shelbyville.
At Seymour
Seymour 92.950, Owen Valley 89.650
Seymour results:
Vault: 1-Paige Smith 8.5, 2-Lillie Cote 8.4, 3-Ivy Brown 8.3, 5-Piper Hawkins 8.1, 6-Grace Lewis 7.9, 7-Kayli Carter 7.7
Bars: 1-Cote 7.65, 3-Smith 6.85, 4-Hawkins 6.7, 5-Carter 6.45, 6-Lewis 6.4
Beam: 2-Smith 7.75, 4-Carter 7.05, 5-(tie) Caitlin Thomasma 6.95 and Savannah Stoffregen 6.95, 10-Lewis 5.35
Floor: 1-(tie) Hawkins 8.65, 3-Stoffregen 8.15, 5-Smith 8.0, 6-Carter 7.8, 7-Cote 7.6
All-around: 2-Smith 31.10, 3-Hawkins 30.35, 4-Carter 29.0