The Overland gymnastics team couldn’t keep its run of trophy finishes going at this season’s Class 5A state meet, but the vibes were still high at the end of the season.
Coach Lisa Sparrow’s Trailblazers — who experienced significant turnover from last season, but had only two seniors compete at state — accrued their season-high score on its way to a fourth-place finish.
As the only Aurora-area program, members of that team make up the 2025 Aurora Sentinel All-Aurora Gymnastics Team.
Last season’s all-around standout for Overland (Ainsley Renner) departed the program and it was junior Abby Mess who filled that spot for the Trailblazers. She won the Region 1 all-around title the week before the state meet, then got onto the medal podium at state with a sixth-place score of 36.150 points.
Mess also secured the All-Aurora position on three of the four individuals events — the vault, balance beam and floor exercise — in which she earned her way into the individual event finals.
Mess was most consistent on the vault, as she scored 9.200 in the team competition and followed that with a 9.150 in the individual event finals to place 11th. She led Overland’s strong balance beam showing in the team competition with a 9.350 that was the third-highest of all competitors, then followed that with a 9.025 in the individual finals for ninth.
Mess and sophomore Stephanie Fernandes finished with identical scores of 9.225 on the floor exercise in the team competition, but Mess outscored Fernandes 8.850 to 8.700 in the individual event finals.
The uneven bars were the only event in which no Overland gymnast made it through to the individual event finals, but senior Haylie Lawrence led the way.
The Smoky Hill student earned a score of 8.725 in the team competition that was tops on the team and 19th overall, which left her less than a handful of places shy of making the individual event finals, though she did so on the balance beam.
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@sentinelcolorado.com. Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel prep Sports