AURORA | The Overland co-op gymnastics team will return to the Class 5A state meet yet again after posting a runner-up finish in the Region 1 meet on home mats Oct. 30.
Coach Lisa Sparrow’s Trailblazers earned a team score of 174.400 points, which was just a little bit behind regional champion Chatfield at 174.525. Both teams moved into the field of the 5A state meet, which is scheduled for Nov. 6-8 at Thornton High School. Overland’s highest regional score came on the balance beam with a 44.350.
Junior Abby Mess won a close race for the regional all-around title with a score of 35.500, while freshman Josie Arlt grabbed fifth place with a 34.500. Sophomore Stephanie Fernandes also had a strong performance with the second-best score on the balance beam (9.250) and third-best result on the floor (9.175).
The 5A team state competition is set to begin at 1:10 p.m. Nov. 6, while the top 15 scorers in each event will move on to the individual event finals, which as are scheduled for 12:10 p.m. Nov. 8.
In the team competition, Overland will begin on the uneven bars, followed by the floor exercise, the vault and the balance beam.
The Trailblazers have finished as the state runner-up in six of the past nine seasons — including the last two to Mountain Range — but remain in search of their first state championship since 2020. Overland has six all-time state titles, which ties of for sixth all-time in Colorado history.
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@sentinelcolorado.com. Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
