Gymnasts bring home national titles to Flames
Over the last month, a record number of athletes from Flames Gymnastix recently competed at their respective national championships.
Highlighting the month of meets was Hannah Scheible who brought home a national title for the second time as a Level 10 gymnast on May 14.
“It’s cool, but for me it’s more about seeing the hard work pay off…If I would have gone there and done what I was supposed to do and didn’t win, I’d be OK with that. For me nationals was more this year about leaving it all out there,” Scheible said. “But having two national titles, that’s insane. I never thought that would happen.”
Scheible, a University of Oklahoma commit, was the highest scoring all-around athlete of all age groups with a 39.275. She scored a 9.95 in vault, 9.725 in bar, 9.95 in beam, and 9.65 in floor.
She said once she hit her bar routine, the momentum just continued.
“Bars had been a little inconscient for me throughout the year. I got to start on bars, so I was feeling super excited once I made my bar routine,” she said. “Once that was done, it was honestly really fun.
“Beam is personally my favorite event so being able to do that second and get a career-high was giving me even more momentum. As I kept doing good routines, I was having more fun and it was honestly the most fun I’ve had at a meet ever.”
But perhaps the most fun for Scheible was having her teammates, Annabelle Schneider and Noella Marshall, competing alongside her.
“It was awesome because we work so hard together. The three of us practice together every day and we've been through so much as a group,” Scheible said. “To be able to just watch their hard work pay off and see them do well is awesome.”
Schneider and Marshall each finished 52nd in their sessions with scores of 35.275 and 34.875, respectively. This was their first time competing at the Level 10 national meet, and they’ll likely be back next season.
As for the Level 10 boys, Zachary Scheible and Collin Lilley both competed the same weekend in Oklahoma City. Zachary Scheible scored a 71.250 to place 16th overall in his preliminary session, while Lilley finished eighth at 70.850.
At the Level 9 girls national meet in Kissimmee, Florida, Mallory Simon, a three-time regional champion in bars, brought home a national title in the event with a score of 9.625.
“In level 7, I was good at bars and I worked really hard and I think that helped me to get to where I am now,” Simon said. “The first couple of meets were kind of bad, I wasn’t doing that well, but then as I started competing more and more, I started doing better…I was working on being more consistent and being more confident when I compete.”
She was able to build confidence throughout the national meet as well, finishing with an all-around score of 35.800 to take 19th overall. She scored an 8.975 in vault, 8.400 in beam, and 8.800 in floor.
“It wasn’t my greatest, but I did pretty well,” Simon said. “It was so fun, I would go again. I made a lot of friends and it was in Florida so that was fun. The meet was awesome, probably the biggest meet I’ve ever been to in my life.”
Also competing in Florida on April 29 were the Level 8 and 9 boys: Lucas Fowler, Chris Herms, Jacob McCormick, and J.W. Cole.
Fowler, a Level 8 gymnast, was first overall in his pommel horse routine with a score of 12.7, which helped him to a 12th-place overall finish with a score of 63.750.
Cole finished ninth overall in the Level 8 competition with a score of 67.800, and McCormick finished 14th with a 63.550. And the lone Level 9 competitor was Herms, who finished 21st overall at 61.700.
This concludes the 2022-23 gymnastics season, but athletes will continue train over the summer in preparation for next season.
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