It was a bittersweet weekend for Kent-Meridian gymnast Nora Keith.
The sweet part came from the fact that Keith, one of the best gymnasts to come out of the school during the past 20 years, brought home a fourth straight medal from the Class 4A state meet at the Tacoma Dome.
The bitter part for Keith, however, was the fact that she didn’t quite reach the level she had hoped.
“It was very disappointing,” said Keith, who will attend Western Washington University next fall. “My goal going into this year was to qualify in the finals on the vault and the floor … it’s a little bittersweet.”
The top eight individual finishers on Friday advanced to the finals on Saturday. In previous years, the top 10 individuals advanced to competition on Saturday.
Keith took sixth on the opening day in the vault with a 9.45 and advanced relatively easily. She just missed moving on in the floor, taking 14th on the first day with a score of 9.4.
Keith grabbed a seventh-place finish in the vault on Saturday, posting a score of 9.325, which was just ahead of Tahoma’s Bri McKenny, who finished eighth with a score of 9.3.
“She was pretty good,” K-M coach Rachel Watanabe said of Keith. “It wasn’t her best-ever performance, but it was still Nora. There were just a lot of really, really good girls there.”
Keith was the lone placer among the four Kent School District programs. Keith is a four-time state placer in the vault and took a personal-best third place last year. The goal this time around, however, was to become Kent-Meridian’s first state champion since Sue Phinney won a vault title for the school in 1987.
And though Keith has been bothered by a strained back the last several weeks, the injury didn’t have an impact on Saturday’s results.
“It’s still a little sore. It bothered me a little bit,” Keith said. “But when I stretched out, the adrenaline kicked in and I didn’t notice it.”
Freshman Juliana Adams, Keith’s teammate at K-M, also advanced to state, but was unable to advance past the first day.
Making it to state as a freshman, however, remains a big accomplishment, Keith said.
“We were so proud of her,” Keith noted. “She’s definitely the next one to watch. I feel she was stronger as a freshman than I was as a freshman. We expect big things from her.”
Kentlake’s Lynnsey Thielman and Katie Steckler along with Kentwood’s Jordan Johnson – the other three local qualifiers – fell short of advancing to the second day. Of the bunch, Johnson proved to be the closest to advancing, taking 10th on the vault the first day with a score of 9.325.
Thielman nearly advanced in the uneven bars, taking 14th with a score of 8.75. Meanwhile, Steckler, the only local to qualify in all four events, finished 15th on the vault (9.175), 23rd on the uneven bars (8.1), 25th on the balance beam (8.5) and 34th on the floor (9.125).
“I think there are so many really good gymnasts and they’re only taking the top eight, which is less than they ever have,” said Kentlake coach Marla Boyd. “(Lynnsey) had a really, really great routine. Of course both of them wish they would have squeaked into the finals in at least one event.”
Erick Walker can be reached at ewalker@kentreporter.com or 253-872-6600.
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