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Area gymnasts finish season, move on
  
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By Ryan Boldrey
There is a wealth of local talent in the world of gymnastics, but not all of the girls with talent tend to go the way of high school programs.
In fact, the vast majority of those with their sights set on continuing on toward a higher level in their sport tend to choose club instead.
That is not to say that there is a shortage of talent in high school gymnastics, though, and Pine Creek is one of those schools that happens to be blessed with talent on both sides of the fence.
Two years ago, Kristin Milardo did something most gymnasts don’t do, and that is competing in both high school and club. The result was a third-place all-around finish at the 5A state meet for her, as she helped lead Pine Creek to 11th overall by placing in all four events.
“Most coaches don’t let them do that,” said head coach Amber Curry. “It’s not that they can’t. Club just takes up so much more time than high school. Those kids are in there, and I’m just guessing based on how many hours I was in the club, about 60 hours a week.”
When the Pine Creek team was working out at Aerials Gymnastics in Colorado Springs earlier in the season, two Pine Creek seniors caught Curry’s eyes and thoughts of “what if?” went rolling through her head.
Those seniors were Holly Cunningham, who recently signed a letter of intent to compete for the University of Kentucky, and Victoria Shanley, who signed with one of the top programs in the country in the University of Utah.
“Oh my goodness, if we were to have had those two girls I would say we would have been easily in the top three teams. That would have helped us out tremendously,” Curry said, comparing the college-bound gymnasts to Milardo in terms of their all-around skill level.
This year, Pine Creek had three talented seniors on its roster in Hannah Brown, Ava Hildenbrandt and Sierra Day from Liberty High School. But only Brown placed at state, finishing third in the floor exercise and sixth on the bars. Hildenbrandt, who had placed in the vault and beam in years past, missed getting into the finals by one spot in vault and two spots on the floor.
“That’s our top three gymnasts right there, and they are all graduating,” Curry said. “Who knows what our team is going to look like next year? We still have a little bit of depth with girls that are juniors and sophomores this year, but nothing compared to those three. It would be nice to have some club girls, but I know the coaches and how much time they spend, and we just work with what we have.”
And with the added possibility of Pine Creek hosting a 5A regional meet next year, Curry hopes that the team will be able to bring in some fresh talent to compete on its home floor.
Palmer Ridge
In the second year of having a District 38 program, the Bears once again were well represented at state. After sending nine of 11 girls a year ago to the final 4A meet of the year, Palmer Ridge sent six of seven this fall.
“I think as a whole they did great,” head coach Monica Bicknell said. “We did not have a complete team, so that definitely makes it a little bit difficult in that we don’t have a team qualifying score. But in the same breath it’s also kind of nice in that you don’t have the pressure on the whole team. I just told them that we were going to do the best we could, and I had a couple that were returning [to state] and they had a great last meet of the season, and I am very grateful for that.”
And despite not having any placers, the Bears, who will not be graduating anyone off of this year’s roster in the springtime, did have one gymnast, Cassie Whirl, who took 15th in the all-around and led the team in all four exercises, finishing just shy of making the finals in the bars, by taking 17th.
Also competing for the Bears was Eva Pileszky in vault and floor, Laura Fishlock in vault, beam and floor, Alexandra Haller in vault, beam and floor, Alex Schweigert in bars, beam and floor, and Cambrielle Huey in vault.
In fact, the vast majority of those with their sights set on continuing on toward a higher level in their sport tend to choose club instead.
That is not to say that there is a shortage of talent in high school gymnastics, though, and Pine Creek is one of those schools that happens to be blessed with talent on both sides of the fence.
Two years ago, Kristin Milardo did something most gymnasts don’t do, and that is competing in both high school and club. The result was a third-place all-around finish at the 5A state meet for her, as she helped lead Pine Creek to 11th overall by placing in all four events.
“Most coaches don’t let them do that,” said head coach Amber Curry. “It’s not that they can’t. Club just takes up so much more time than high school. Those kids are in there, and I’m just guessing based on how many hours I was in the club, about 60 hours a week.”
When the Pine Creek team was working out at Aerials Gymnastics in Colorado Springs earlier in the season, two Pine Creek seniors caught Curry’s eyes and thoughts of “what if?” went rolling through her head.
Those seniors were Holly Cunningham, who recently signed a letter of intent to compete for the University of Kentucky, and Victoria Shanley, who signed with one of the top programs in the country in the University of Utah.
“Oh my goodness, if we were to have had those two girls I would say we would have been easily in the top three teams. That would have helped us out tremendously,” Curry said, comparing the college-bound gymnasts to Milardo in terms of their all-around skill level.
This year, Pine Creek had three talented seniors on its roster in Hannah Brown, Ava Hildenbrandt and Sierra Day from Liberty High School. But only Brown placed at state, finishing third in the floor exercise and sixth on the bars. Hildenbrandt, who had placed in the vault and beam in years past, missed getting into the finals by one spot in vault and two spots on the floor.
“That’s our top three gymnasts right there, and they are all graduating,” Curry said. “Who knows what our team is going to look like next year? We still have a little bit of depth with girls that are juniors and sophomores this year, but nothing compared to those three. It would be nice to have some club girls, but I know the coaches and how much time they spend, and we just work with what we have.”
And with the added possibility of Pine Creek hosting a 5A regional meet next year, Curry hopes that the team will be able to bring in some fresh talent to compete on its home floor.
Palmer Ridge
In the second year of having a District 38 program, the Bears once again were well represented at state. After sending nine of 11 girls a year ago to the final 4A meet of the year, Palmer Ridge sent six of seven this fall.
“I think as a whole they did great,” head coach Monica Bicknell said. “We did not have a complete team, so that definitely makes it a little bit difficult in that we don’t have a team qualifying score. But in the same breath it’s also kind of nice in that you don’t have the pressure on the whole team. I just told them that we were going to do the best we could, and I had a couple that were returning [to state] and they had a great last meet of the season, and I am very grateful for that.”
And despite not having any placers, the Bears, who will not be graduating anyone off of this year’s roster in the springtime, did have one gymnast, Cassie Whirl, who took 15th in the all-around and led the team in all four exercises, finishing just shy of making the finals in the bars, by taking 17th.
Also competing for the Bears was Eva Pileszky in vault and floor, Laura Fishlock in vault, beam and floor, Alexandra Haller in vault, beam and floor, Alex Schweigert in bars, beam and floor, and Cambrielle Huey in vault.
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