The Overland gymnastics team rolled to victory at the Class 5A Region 1 tournament Oct. 31, which extended its season another week.
On the mats in their home gym, coach Lisa Sparrow’s Trailblazers earned a score of 181.325 points to finish comfortably atop the five team field.
The victory moved Overland — along with runner-up Pomona — into the 5A state gymnastics meet. The meet runs Nov. 7 (team competition, which begins at 3:10 p.m.) and Nov. 9 (individual event finals, which begin at 1:30 p.m.) at Thornton High School.
Junior Ainsley Renner won the regional all-around crown with a score of 36.825 points, which was boosted by runner-up finishes on the balance beam and in the floor exercise.
Overland was particularly strong in the floor exercise as all six of its entrants finished in the top eight. Renner scored 9.550 to lead the way in second, followed by senior Maia Howell in 4th (9.350), senior Ryann Walline in 5th (9.300), senior Audrey Cox in 6th (9.300), senior Ali Padgett in 7th (9.250) and sophomore Kate Hofer in 8th (9.175).
The other automatic 5A team state qualifiers were Mountain Range (champion) and Ponderosa (runner-up) from Region 2 plus Arvada West (champion) and Broomfield (runner-up) from Region 3.
Mountain Range returns to the 5A state meet attempting to defend last season’s state championship, while Overland tied with Broomfield for second place in 2023.
In this season’s 5A state team competition, Overland’s rotation begins with the balance beam, followed by the uneven bars, the vault and floor exercise. The individual all-around champion and placewinners will also be decided during the team competition.
The top 15 individuals in each of the four events qualify for the individual event finals.
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
