Gymnasts from Chardon, Kenston, NDCL, and West Geauga have been competing since the first week of December as they prepare for the OHSAA Tournament.
Here in Geauga County the High School Gymnastics season is in full swing.
Gymnasts from Chardon, Kenston, NDCL, and West Geauga have been competing since the first week of December as they prepare for the OHSAA Tournament.
Most recently, gymnasts from the Chardon Hilltoppers and West Geauga Wolverines competed at the Berea-Midpark Senior Night Meet on Jan.17 at X-treme Gymnastics in Middleberg Heights.
Both teams performed well as the Wolverines finished in second place (116.4 points)
while the Hilltoppers finished third (115.3).
Leading the way for the Wolverines was senior Ava Cavelli.
Finishing second in the individual all-around competition with a combined score of 34.95, Cavelli scored 8.4 points on the bars, an 8.8 on the beam, 8.85 on floor and an 8.9 on vault.
In the individual events, Cavelli tied for first place in the vault with Reese Kost from Kirtland. In addition, she also finished second on floor and fourth on both the beam and the vault.
Overall, Cavelli was happy with her performance.
“Overall, my vault was pretty good,” Cavelli said. “I got pretty good scores for what my routines were.”
Also finishing in the top 10 for the Wolverines in the individual all-around competition were seniors Jenna Aquila (7th place – 28.55 points – bars – 5.5, beam – 7.95, floor – 7.55, vault – 7.55) and junior Gabriella Gideon (10th place – 27.2 points – bars – 6.5, beam – 6.3, floor – 7.45 and vault – 6.95).
Three Wolverines finished in the top ten for vault including Cavelli (1st place), Aquila (8th) and Taylor Kuhn (10th).
Also, Cavelli (4th place) and Aquila (9th) both finished in the top ten on the beam.
Starting the season on Dec. 3 at the Magnificat Meet, Cavelli finished first both in the vault and on the bars. In addition, she was runner up in the all-around competition and finished in the top ten on the beam (2nd place) and floor (7th).
Then, on Dec. 21 at All-Around Gymnastics, Covelli finished runner up in the all-around competition and in the top ten in bars (2nd place), beam (2nd), floor (8th) and vault (2nd).
At the Lakewood Meet on Jan. 4, Covelli also finished as runner-up in the all-around competition and in the top ten in the bars (1st place), beam (5th), and floor (2nd).
As a team this season, the Wolverines gymnasts have accumulated three, 3rd place finishes and were runner-ups most recently on Jan. 17.
“The team has been pretty good,” Cavelli said. “I think we have had high scores, and not a whole lot of falls, especially with a lot of new people. I think everyone is doing really good.”
With an excellent season so far, Covelli said that she hopes to qualify for states.
“My main goal is to definitely make it to states and just keep placing well and improve anything I can in my routines,” Cavelli said.
Like the Wolverines, the Hilltoppers are also having a good season. In fact, they finished in first place in the All-Around Gymnastics Meet in Mentor on Dec. 21 with Angelina Colombi (5th) and Allison Richards (7th) finishing in the top ten in the individual all-around competition. Then, on Jan 6 at the Lakewood meet, the Hilltoppers finished in fourth place and Allison Richards finished in the top ten (6th place) in the individual all-around competition.
At the Berea-Midpark Senior Night Meet, the Hilltoppers had two gymnasts finish in the top ten for the all-around competition.
For the Hilltoppers, finishing in fifth place was Allison Richards (31.25 points – bars – 7.8, beam – 8.15, floor – 8.05, and vault – 7.25). Also finishing in the top ten for the Hilltoppers was Abby Clute (8th place – 28.2 points – bars 6.4, beam – 6.9, floor – 7.9 and vault – 7.0).
Richardson said that her floor routine went well as she felt very energetic.
“(On the floor) I had a lot of energy, and I stuck all my landings,” Richards said.
Certainly, the energy created by her teammates cheering as they watched her perform can help to create high energy and positive social facilitation.
“We’ve been doing a lot of good cheering,” Richards said. “We’re always good at just cheering for each other, and being there for each other.”
Also for the Hilltoppers finishing in the top ten on the bars and the floor was Audrey Andler.
Andler finished 6th (8.15 points) on bars and 9th (7.85) on floor.
Andler emphasized that the keys to success for her on the bars and floor were to focus on the small technical details that lead to success and to have fun while performing.
The Kenston Bombers Gymnastics Team began their season on Dec 19.
Picking up right where she left off, Bombers 2025 individual All-Around OHSAA State Champion Sofia Macias (37.05 points) finished first in the Solon Invitational at the Elite Gymnastics Academy. Also finishing in the top ten in the individual all-around for the Bombers were Ryleigh Offutt (2nd place – 34.35) and Lacy Lombardo (5th – 31.95).
Then, on Jan. 9 at the Rubber City Rumble at Goodyear Hall in Akron, the Bombers were runner-ups. Also, Macias again won the individual all-around title and Offutt finished in the top ten (6th place).
The NDCL Gymnastic Team also began their season with an excellent start as they finished in third place on Dec. 11th competing against some of the top gymnastics teams in Northeast Ohio at Brecksville-Broadview Heights High School. Then, on Dec. 19, the Lions defeated the Solon Comets, 121.2-95.75, and lost by less than two points to the Mayfield Wildcats, 122.95-121.2.
Most recently the Lions competed at the Twinsburg Meet on Dec. 30.
At the Twinsburg Meet, the Lions finished in fourth place. Lions gymnasts were led by seniors Ava Lewandowski (6th place) and Anna Barabas (8th) who both finished in the top ten in the individual all-around competition. Also, Lewandowski finished in the top ten on the beam (4th place) and vault (5th). Barabas finished in the top ten on the bars (2nd).
