SM Northwest fifth, SM North 10th at Saturday’s state gymnastics meet

Lawrence — Nerves may have gotten the best of Shawnee Mission Northwest over the weekend at the state gymnastics meet.

After finishing fourth at the Sunflower League meet the previous weekend, the Cougars scored 100 points, 1.4 points behind Olathe Northwest, to drop to a fifth-place finish on Saturday at Lawrence High School. Shawnee Mission North walked away 10th overall, with 92.425 points, out of the 13 teams represented.

Olathe East garnered the firstplace finish (106.775 points) coming out ahead of Lawrence Free State (104.925).

The Cougars’ team performance on the uneven bars represented the best performance of the year. Junior Grace Gregory scored seventh in the event, missing a sixth place finish by just .10 points, yielding the highest placement for a Cougar.

“Out of all of our meets, the bars that we did were our best bar routines all year,” SM Northwest coach Cindy Beason said. “Not the best scores, but they added the difficulty and a few of the girls did some new skills.”

Those new skills may have contributed to falls in three out of the four events, reflected in the Cougars’ overall placement, Beason added.

“I think we were a little bit nervous and a little bit jittery,“ she said.

Despite the occasional missteps, junior Mallory Wilhite used her hands uncharacteristically in one of her tumbling passes during the floor routine, resulting in a ninth-place finish. Wilhite fell just .15 points short of a 10th place finish in the all-around competition.

Recovering from an irritated shoulder last week at the league meet, senior Caitlin Chen held back on her tumbling but still managed to place 21st for her floor routine and 30th on the beam.

Senior Jen Lanman led the Indians, consistently placing the highest among her team in the four individual events throughout the day. Lanman placed 14th in all-around competition, with her highest score coming in the vault, where she placed eighth with a 9.075.

Fellow SM North senior Elaina Zinn performed her best of four events during the floor routine for 33rd place. Teammates Caitlyn Howard (7.8), Natalya Freeman (7.525) and Sarah Gradient (6.750) placed 48th, 52nd, and 58th respectively in the same event.

Collectively, SM North had the fifth-best vault scores (25.775) out of the teams represented at state.

Reflecting on the end of the short, 10-week season, Beason said the team consistently collaborated throughout the year.

“They did work together as a team, and I was very proud of their accomplishments,” Beason said, referring to the season. “Fifth place is nothing to sneeze about, even though I know the girls wanted to be in the top three. But they did a great job.”

Mill Valley to travel to Lansing for district title showdown

In preparing for the district championship this week against Lansing, Mill Valley is focused and looking to build off of the momentum of Friday’s 63-40 victory against Washington.

“We’re concentrating on what we do as a team (this week),” coach Joel Applebee said. “Our goal all year long is to concentrate and improve on what we do.”

At least on paper, there didn’t appear to be much for the Jaguars (7-1) to improve upon from Friday’s senior night victory against the Wildcats (3-5). In its second district game, the Jaguars put up 42 points in just the first half.

“We played well,” Applebee said. “We jumped out early, and I was very happy.”

Senior quarterback Skyler Windmiller led the Jaguars the first half, completing 14 of 20 passes for 211 yards, including three touchdowns. Windmiller frequently targeted senior L.J. Hatch, who caught four passes for 89 yards and a touchdown.

Senior Kendall Short ran for two touchdowns to follow up his three-score performance from a week ago against Schlagle. Against Washington, Short carried nine times for 105 yards and also brought in a 38-yard reception.

The 36-point halftime cushion prompted Applebee to start rotating in his second- and third-string underclassmen.

“Our kids got some great experience,” he said. “We played a lot of freshmen fourth quarter.”

Behind freshman quarterback Logan Koch, who ran for three touchdowns and 189 rushing yards, the seemingly inexperienced players held their own against Washington’s starters.

Amassing 331 rushing yards, the Jaguars surpassed the season average of 220, effectively moving the ball downfield all night.

Senior Staton Rebeck had an 89-yard punt return in the second quarter for a touchdown, while junior linebacker T.J. Philips led the defense with seven tackles and a sack.

Senior Coleman McCann remained on the sideline Friday after an injury sustained at Tonganoxie on Sept. 21. Joining him was junior Adam Swearingen, who injured his leg against Turner. Applebee called both players’ status “week-to-week.”

Applebee said the Jaguars were pumped up after the decisive senior night performance but that they needed to take it to another level against the Lions (3-5) at 7 p.m. Friday in a game that will decide the district title.

“Lansing is going to be a challenge,” he said.

The Lions are coming off a one-point victory against Schlagle.

While the Jaguars are already guaranteed a spot in the playoffs, a district championship would ensure Mill Valley’s chance to host a game.

“We’ve clinched the playoffs, but that’s not what we are about,” he said. “We want to win the district.”