THORNTON | The start wasn’t the best for the Overland gymnastics team in Thursday’s Class 5A state team competition, but the finish was fantastic.
The Trailblazers closed their rotation at Thornton High School with a rousing score of 45.350 points on the balance beam — the second-highest score of any of the 10 teams that competed in the event — and easily achieved their best team score of the season in the biggest meet.
Coach Lisa Sparrow’s Overland team — an assembly of athletes from several schools in the Aurora area — finished with a score of 177.050 points, which put it in fourth behind champion Broomfield (182.275), runner-up Chatfield (179.175) and third-place Mountain Range (178.200), which had been in search of a third straight team championship.
“We knew we had a lot talent and potential and we’d done the work, so we were able to let it shine,” said Sparrow, who had tremendous turnover from last season’s team that finished in second place. “We didn’t have the best start with a couple of mistakes on bars, but we came back and did well on the floor and then absolutely knocked it out of the park at the end on beam.”
Overland indeed saved its best for last with its top score coming on the beam, which surpassed the 44.850 in the floor exercise and the 44.475 on the vault, while it finished at 42.375 on the uneven bars.
The Trailblazers had a placer in the all-around competition in junior Abby Mess (Eaglecrest), who accrued a score of 36.150 to place sixth. Mess — who won the Region 1 all-around championship a week earlier — qualified for the Nov. 8 individual event finals (which featured the top 15 scorers during the team competition) on the vault, floor and balance beam.
Sophomore Stephanie Fernandes (Grandview) made the individual event finals — which begin at 12:30 p.m. Saturday — on beam and floor, while senior Haylie Lawrence (Smoky Hill) made it on the beam.
Overland’s showing encouraged Sparrow, who loses a total of four seniors, including two that competed in the team competition.
“We’ll have a lot of strength coming back plus some good potential freshmen coming in,” Sparrow said. “This should give us momentum and excitement for next season.”
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@sentinelcolorado.com. Twitter/X: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
2025 CLASS 5A GYMNASTICS STATE MEET (TEAM COMPETITION)
Nov. 6 at Thornton High School
Class 5A state meet (at Thornton H.S.)
Team scores: 1. Broomfield 182.275 points; 2. Chatfield 179.175; 3. Mountain Range 178.200; 4. OVERLAND 177.050; 5. Arvada West 176.750; 6. Valor Christian 173.225; 7. Poudre School District 172.300; 8. Ponderosa 170.300; 9. Thornton 170.225; 10. Lakewood 167.900
