NW Indiana Girls Gymnastics - Valparaiso Regional Championships

35th Indiana Girls Gymnastics Tournament - Valparaiso Regional Championships

A USA-365.com Special Report by Mark Smith
03-12-2007

Top two teams and top six individuals in each event advance to next Saturday's state meet.

1. CHESTERTON 113.2625, 2. VALPARAISO 112.25, 3. CROWN POINT 109.925,
4. WAWASEE 97.175, 5. PLYMOUTH 96.3, 6. WEST NOBLE 95.95.

BALANCE BEAM (9.325) 1. Caitlin Sullivan (Elkhart Central) 9.75, 2. (tie) Martina Buchholz (CP) and Emily Holmen (Valpo) 9.6, 4. Alyssa Coker (CROWN POINT) 9.55, 5. (tie) Trisha Eberly (CP), Kelley Freeman (C) and Lindsay Whittaker (C) 9.5.

PARALELL BARS (9.400) 1. Kelley Freeman (C) 9.625, 2. Kaylene Wagner (Hobart) 9.525, 3. (tie) Megan Erminger (C) and Callie Kuehl (C) 9.475, 5. Kathy Rawley (Valpo) 9.4, 6. Katelyn Skinner (Valpo) 9.0.

FLOOR EXERCISE (9.675) 1. Alyssa Coker (CROWN POINT) 9.6875, 2. Caitlin Skinner (Valpo) 9.6125, 3. Trisha Eberly (CROWN POINT) 9.6, 4. (tie) Trisha Buchholz (CROWN POINT) and Leslie Levenhagen (V) 9.5875, 6. Kelley Freeman (C) 9.5375.

VAULT (9.650) 1. Kelley Freeman (C) 9.6, 2. Taylor Rose (Valpo) 9.45, 3. (tie) Caitlin Skinner (Valpo) and Kaylene Wagner (Hobart) 9.35, 5. Alyssa Coker (CROWN POINT) 9.3, 6. (tie) Bailey Huddleston (C) and Kathy Rawley (Valpo) 9.25.

ALL-AROUND (37.300) 1. Kelley Freeman (C) 38.2525, 2. Kaylene Wagner (Hobart) 37.26275, 3. Skinner (Valpo) 37.0625, 4. Martina Buchholz (CROWN POINT) 36.66275, 5. Trisha Eberly (CROWN POINT) 36.575, 6. Alyssa Coker (CROWN POINT) 36.5125.

All-Around (*top six go to state finals)      Bars - Beam - Floor - Vault = Overall
1. Kelly Freeman (Chesterton)                 9.625 - 9.500 - 9.538 - 9.600   (38.263)*
2. Kaylene Wagner (Hobart)                    9.525 - 8.950 - 9.438 - 9.350 (37.263)*
3. Katelyn Skinner (Valparaiso)               9.000 - 9.100 - 9.613 - 9.350 (37.063)*
4. Martina Buchholz (CP)                     8.525 - 9.600 - 9.588 - 8.950   (36.663)*
5. Trisha Eberly     (CP)                         8.375 - 9.500 - 9.600 - 9.100   (36.575)*
6. Alyssa Coker     (CP)                        7.975 - 9.550 - 9.688 - 9.300   (36.5125)*
7. Emily Crabtree (LaPorte)                      8.825 - 9.050 - 9.325 - 9.150 (36.450)
8. Taylor Rose (Valparaiso)                     8.600 - 8.400 - 9.525 - 9.450 (35.975)
9. Laura Capps (Wawasee)                     8.125 - 8.600 - 8.975 - 7.950 (33.650)
10. Dani Ramos (Plymouth)                     6.950 - 9.050 - 8.900 - 8.150 (33.050)

TEAM                                  VAULT      BARS      BEAM     FLOOR        TOTAL
1. Chesterton                       28.000 - 28.575 - 28.350 - 28.3375   (113.2625)
2. Valparaiso                        28.050 - 27.375 - 28.100 - 28.725      (112.250)
3. CROWN POINT               27.350 - 24.950 - 28.650 - 28.875      (109.825)
4. Wawasee                         24.300 - 22.025 - 25.150 - 25.700     (97.175)
5. Plymouth                         25.200 - 20.850 - 24.250 - 26.000     (96.300)
6. West Noble                      24.850 - 22.625 - 22.100 - 26.375     (95.950)

VALPARAISO (3-9-2007) You knew early in the evening at Friday's Valparaiso Gymnastic's Regional that Crown Point was not going to reach the state finals as a team. CP scored only a 24.95 on the parallel bars on their opening event and watched as sectional champ Valparaiso and Duneland Athletic Conference (DAC) champion Chesterton both soared over 28.0 on each of their first two events. Only two team could advance to the finals.

And then it seemed obvious, when Martina Buchholz (9.6), Trisha Eberly (9.5) and Alyssa Coker (9.55) all scored big and beat the state standard on the second event, the balance beam, that Crown Point's top three girls were going to reach the state finals in one event. When the trio also all scored over 9.5 on the floor exercise, it appeared, that with Chesterton and Valpo rolling up outrageous team totals, that the Lady Bulldogs had received all they were going to get on this night.

Then the final scores. And what was not known, apparent or obvious... Crown Point's three girls, in what is a mathematical improbability, all fell into the top six of the Valparaiso Regional all-around performers. All of the top six qualify for the state finals.

In a situation where finishing first and second in your three-person team score reaches the state finals and the top three on your team comprise the team score, Crown Point qualified the top three on their squad for the finals as individuals but placed third as a team. Under the present playoff format (in the 80s and 90s only the regional champion advanced to the state finals), that had never happened.

"I couldn't be happier," said coach Ami Pysh. "We talked about this possibility last week. It just means we have three very good all-around performers. We can't win the state title as a team, but we will have a team score."

The anomaly of having three all-around performers reach the finals on a non-qualifying team is greater than it might first appear. First of all, for that to happen, the three qualifiers cannot be 1-2-3, because then the team would qualify for the finals as a team. Other schools have to help out by going to specialization. For example, only one Chesterton girl (of nine) competed in all four events because the winning Trojans specialized, having different girls perform their specialty. Only two of Valpo's seven performers competed all-around. Obviously, if you don't compete in all four events, you don't count in the all-around competition.

Crown Point used only five girls. Buchholz (36.6675), Eberly (36.575) and Coker (36.5125) competed in all four events while seniors Samantha Zick and Hillary Groff split the fourth position (you get four performers in each event) last Friday. To use nine performers and score 113 team points shows Chesterton has a deep and fertile program. But to have three of a maximum of four qualify for the state finals in the all around scores means you may have a great team. We'll know next Saturday in the state finals at 11:30 a.m. (CST) at Perry Meridian high school.

"We've never had three girls like this," said Pysh, who is in her sixth year. "This is my first time going to the state finals with individuals. The beauty of having three all-around performers finish that close is just great for our team. It's going to be interesting to see what we score. Let's say we score fifth. We'll make up our own medals."

The happy ending seemed a long way off after CP scored just 24.950 on the bars, about two points less than what they hoped for if they wanted to challenge for second place. The girls were noticeably unhappy after the bars routine and heads were a little down just 20 minutes into the three-hour meet.

"They were a little emotional," said Pysh. "That's the second week we've started slow on the bars. But, I'll tell you what. I'd rather start on the bars than on the floor. I didn't lose my cool with them. I said something different than I did last week. I was very aggressive with them last week. Tonight, I said it doesn't really matter because we're here. We made it to the regional. Whatever's going to happen, is going to happen."

"I asked them that 'Don't you want to show everybody that your beam routines last week were not an accident? Entertain the crowd. That's what you're here for.' And they did better than last week."

When CP started the sectional with a 24.050 on the beam at Chesterton on March 3, they bounced back with a 28.250 on the beam and a 28.250 on the floor. Friday, after the 24.95 on bars, CP rallied with a 28.65 on the beam and a 28.875 on the floor.

But it was hard to believe. At the completion of the competition, word drifted through the stands at Valparaiso that the Bulldogs had all qualified and many questioned it. The CP girls seemed to wait until the awards ceremony to truly accept what had happened.

"I think this is the best thing that could have happened," said Buchholz, who is going to the finals for a second time. "Seriously. Chesterton and Valpo just did an amazing job. That 113 is huge. After the bars, I was personally freaking out. Bars is not my favorite event to compete, but it is my favorite event to do at practice. So, I just said, 'I am not going to end my career with a fall on the bars.' My whole career was about to end. You have to do well on the next three events because I have to go to state and do bars again."

Trisha Eberly had not analyzed the team and individual possibilities in advance.

"I don't know," she said. "I hadn't even thought about it. I didn't know what to expect. I've never been to a regional (as a performer) before. My nerves were there today. I fell on bars. I bobbled a lot on beam."

Trisha says it wasn't a game plan to start slow and come on strong for the second week in a row.

"I think we were overanalyzing things," she said. "We were trying too hard. Coach said to show everybody that last week was not just a fluke on beam."

Eberly did not qualify for the regional on her own. She made it because CP placed second as a team.

"It was a gift to qualify as a team," she said. "It gave me a chance to redeem myself."

Eberly would not have reached the finals had not Pysh gone to the judges table to help correct a mistake in the scoring.

"They didn't count one of my skills on beam," Eberly said. "It's a good thing she has judging experience. That really helps us."

"At the state finals," explained one non-region coach, "they have four judges. The high and low scores are thrown out and the middle two are averaged together. At the regional, there are just two judges and they have to take the average of those two. The crazy scores won't get in and 113 is a crazy score. There aren't going to be any 113s at the state finals."

But to rally from seemingly certain doom two weeks in a row to post high scores in the post-season is a victory in itself. If Buchholz could get a handle on it, she'd sell the formula to her teammates.

"I just breath deep breaths and try not to break down," she said of her bad performance bounce back secret. "Then usually a friend or a senior comes up and talks to you. And Ami or Karyn (assistant coach Karyn Pearson) comes up and they give you the game plan for the next event. You listen and you do well."

But, if you're a senior, just one more week to do well.

"I'm not ready for that," Buchholz said. "I don't think it will hit me necessarily next week. I think the week after that there will be such a void in my life. I'll be out pole vaulting, but nothing will equal gymnastics. Don't make me think about it."

REGIONAL NOTES: The only Crown Point girl who was not a basketball player (the CP hoop team won in 1984-85) ever to win a state championship was Lisa Diederich who was the floor exercise champion in the 2000 state finals.

"I was the judge," said CP coach Ami Pysh, "when she won floor. That was the year before I became coach."

Since they cannot win the state title as a team, can any CP girl win a state title? It's unlikely in the all-around where regional champ Kelley Freemen (38.6235 out of a possible 40) seems to have no weak event. Valpo's Katelyn Skinner was above 9.0 in all four events. One judge gave Elkhart Central star Caitlin Sullivan a 9.8 on her beam effort and the other judge gave her a 9.7.

But one judge gave CP's Alyssa Coker a 9.775 on her floor exercise at the regional. All three girls came up with career bests at the regional finals. Pysh ran them down.

"Obviously, nothing on bars," she smiled. "Trisha and Martina on beam. Trish and Alyssa on floor."

The scores seemed unusually high Friday night at Valparaiso. A total of 113.2625 recorded by Chesterton is an almost unheard of score. Two-time defending state champ Bishop Dwenger, led by two-time state bars champion Jeanna Van Hoey, set a state tournament record with a 113.300 last year.

"I was in the stands cheering for Martina," she said. "I didn't get out of the sectional last year."

Eberly felt badly for seniors Hillary Groff and Samantha Zick, who will not compete at the state finals because CP did not qualify as a team.

"It's hard for them," Trisha said. "It's really not fair, because there are teams from the south that would not do anything here. We go through the hardest league, the hardest sectional and the hardest regional."

"Sam's floor routine was gorgeous," Martina said. "9.3. She could not have done better. And Hillary hit her bar routine and her beam routine. It was awesome how well they did."