After a well performed season, the gymnastics team looks forward to future years and competitions.
“My expectations at the beginning of the season were to have a committed team with a desire to learn new skills and be successful,” coach Casey Sarles said.
The gymnastics team flies under the radar. There are 11 girls on the team and all of them are committed to the development of the team.
This season held high expectations for the team. The leadership of junior Kaleigh Martin and freshman Evann Blalock helped to achieve fifth in conference and second in states.
“The top two standout players are Kaleigh Martin and Evann Blalock. Kaleigh is incredibly consistent and reliable, I could always count on her to bring the team a consistent routine and a good score,” Sarles said. “Evann is a great team player, I could always count on her to work hard and help me out in a pinch.”
Throughout the season, Martin competed in two meets. She was state champion on vault, third place on balance beam, fifth place on uneven bars, and contributed to small team state championship. Blalock was able to compete in all three events, scoring at least nine on beam every meet.
“Competing for the school is a lot less stressful than competing for a regular competitive team. It is a lot of fun and great to represent the school,” Martin said.
Even the young gymnasts on the team are looking to improve their skills as they move into their future years with the team.
“I think we all need to work harder and work together in order for us to go farther and maybe even win states,” Blalock said.
With the consistent loss of seniors for the gymnastics team, Sarles consistently is looking to recruit incoming freshmen each year. Many people do not know much about our gymnastics team, mainly due to the fact that it is often done off campus.
“The gymnastics team is not super serious, it is really fun and a great way to meet new people,” Martin said.
After this season, expectations for the future are even higher than they were.
“I hope the future is bright for the gymnastics team. It is a relatively new team; we had a lot of seniors graduate last year,” Sarles said. “My hope is that a majority of them return and that we can encourage some of the incoming freshman to join the team.”