Cheney’s Lady Blackhawk gymnasts braved the elements on Friday, Feb. 15, and traveled to Mukilteo for a state qualifying meet, where sophomore Lauren O’ Callaghan earned a place at this weekend’s state championship in Sammamish, Wash.
O’Callaghan was joined by Makayla Miller, Alexis Ewen, Sidnie Pacheco and Ashlynn Moad.
The girls had to adjust quickly to schedule changes when their Feb. 8 district meet was postponed and later cancelled due to inclement weather, prompting local athletics directors to use scores from a Seattle-area meet for state qualification.
“The competition was strong and it was cool for the girls to see high levels of competition,” head coach Jamie Frucci said. “Overall the girls did great.”
Frucci said Ewen, Pacheco and Moad had their “best meets of the season” but just weren’t up to a state competition level quite yet. Miller and O’Callaghan both struggled on bars, experiencing a few falls that knocked them out of the running for state in that event.
O’Callaghan placed 19th out of 49 competitors on beam, and will be heading back to the west side of the mountains on Wednesday to compete again.
In preparation for this weekend’s meet, O’Callaghan and Frucci have altered her routine slightly so she can meet all state requirements with a minimum of deductions.
“We’re just cleaning up her routine,” Frucci said in an email. “We changed a couple of skills and took out a couple of skills that weren’t necessary.”
Shannen Talbot can be reached at [email protected].
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