Seymour’s Piper Hawkins performs the vault on Tuesday night against Columbus East. The Owls edged out the Olympians to score the victory.
Jeff Lubker | For The Tribune
Seymour’s Lillie Cote performs her bars routine against Columbus East on Tuesday night. Cote and the Owls got the win to begin its season.
Jeff Lubker | For The Tribune
Seymour’s Caitlin Thomasma leaps on the beam on Tuesday night against Columbus East. Thomasma and the Owls defeated Columbus East.
Jeff Lubker | For The Tribune
Seymour’s Grace Lewis performs her floor routine on Tuesday night against Columbus East. The Owls defeated the Olympians in their first meet of the season.
Jeff Lubker | For The Tribune
Head coach Angie Mellencamp said she couldn’t be happier with her Seymour gymnastics team.
The Owls opened their season Tuesday night by defeating Columbus East 99.4-98.95 at home.
“That was a great score for our first meet of the season,” Mellencamp said. “We have had this meet ever since I started coaching — maybe 13 or 14 years — and this is the first time Seymour has won it. There was one year we didn’t win the meet, but we won sectionals and regionals.
“The girls aren’t 100 percent but that’s what this meet is for, to get warmed up and get ready for the season and see what’s working, see what’s not and then build from there.”
Piper Hawkins topped the Owls by placing second in all-around with a score of 33.70.
She placed first in floor with a 9.05, tied for first on vault at 8.8, tied for second on bars with teammate Marlo Cornn, at 7.75, and tied for fifth on beam with Cornn with 8.1.
Freshman Nev Cockerham topped the Owls on beam by placing third with an 8.3.
“I think I did have a good meet because I only had a week-and-a-half to prepare for it,” Hawkins said. “I was here (practicing) and then I ended up with COVID and I was out for a few weeks. I’ve been practicing hard. That floor score is good for me. I had a good vault.
“I’m upgrading some skills so I’m going to work on those. Overall, I should improve for the most part.”
Hawkins was pleased with the overall team score for the Owls.
“We had a good score,” she said. “It’s amazing for our first meet. Our goal was around 97 or 98, and we got higher than that. It’s a very good start. We are all super proud.”
Mellencamp said, “We’ve really focused on vault, but we have been very concentrated on beam this year. The past two years beam has been the event that hurts our team score the most. The girls did great today on beam. They stayed on.
“Piper was fabulous in floor. It was a great floor routine. She still has more to put in, and she knows what she needs to work on. But, for her season-opener I couldn’t have asked for anything else.”
Seymour’s next meet will be at home Jan. 13 against Franklin Central.
“We’ll work on everything overall,” Mellencamp said. “Some of the girls have some injuries, some of them have been sick, so right now we really want to focus on getting healthy and strong so that we can put in some of the bigger skills.”