Senior Night stunner for Mount Si gymnasts

Celebrating the efforts of seven seniors, the Mount Si gymnastics team gave them and fans a memorable night Thursday, Jan. 14, as they pulled off a gigantic win.

The Wildcats beat Kingco 4A powers Newport and Issaquah, and in doing so, may have set a school record. Mount Si scored 164.9, beating the Eagles, who finished second with 161.75, and the Knights, who finished last in the four-team meet with a score of 157.85. Olympia also competed, and finished third with a 159.8.

“I’m pretty speechless,” said an elated Mount Si coach Jessica Easthope. After a rough prior week, “I told our girls that tonight is redemption night. We needed to just come out and hit our skills, be clean, and we did.”

Keying the effort once again was senior Georgia Reynolds. She finished second in the all around (36.9), just behind winner Kristine Wong from Newport, who scored 37.4. Reynolds won the bars (9.3), tied for first on the floor with Wong (9.5), finished second on the vault (8.9) and took a fifth on the beam (9.2).

Mount Si’s Rachel Karavias and Kennedy Richmond completed the advanced “giant” skill twice each. Considerable improvement in the skill over prior weeks greatly aided Mount Si in its team score.

“I just went out there and tried to have fun,” Karavias said.

“They worked hard all week. They swung the bars every day at practice and their effort really came through,” a pleased Easthope said.

The future was also on display in a big way, as three junior varsity gymnasts — Madeline Gill, Rebecca Dockery and Payton Schmidt — all scored 7.0 or better on the vault.

“Those JV kids are really getting the feel of what competition is like,” Easthope said.

At the meet, the Wildcats honored seniors Reynolds, Karavias, Hannah Exner, Sara Cuevas, Michelle Whims, Jessica Buyers and Laurel Mahnke.

“I will definitely most miss the excitement and the attitudes and personalities of all the girls,” Whims said.

Contact Snoqualmie Valley Record Sports contributing Writer Rhett Workman at rwteam97@yahoo.com or 425-888-2311.

Comment on this story.

COMMENTING RULES: We encourage an open exchange of ideas in our online community, but we ask you to follow our guidelines for respecting community standards. In a nutshell, don't say anything you wouldn't want your mother to read. Please see our FAQ if you have questions or concerns about using Facebook to comment.