Falls. Mistakes. Sticks. Cheers. Injuries. The gymnasts have been through it all. The LPS Girls Gymnastics team finished their last regular season meet on October 7, 2023. They competed at their home gym of Active Athletics securing a first-place win over the team of Rock Canyon.
The LPS Girls Gymnastics team is a combination of different high schoolers who go to Heritage High School, Littleton High School, and Arapahoe High School. The girls do not mind being from different schools though, if anything it brings them closer.
Out of the 23 team members, eight of them are currently attending Arapahoe High School. The warriors Addie Fortin, Avery Cowles, Caitlin Lebouf, Alexa Gonzalez, Allison Jeffers, Carlee Hansmeier, Isabella Brandberg, and Mya Rohr. They all love to cheer on the sidelines and compete for the judges.
Avery Cowels, 9, had a really fun season. It was her first year on the team and she said, “It helped me become friends with a lot of people that I wouldn’t have been without the team.” Cowels enjoyed both the competing aspect of being on the team as well as the bonding that all the girls do.
The team loved to bond with each other. From getting their nails done to backyard taco bars the team did a lot together.
They enjoyed spending time together because it was such a short season that they want to take advantage of all the time they had.
This year something changed in the season, right in time for their playoff meets to begin. The coaches decided to create the first-ever annual HHS Gymnastics post-regular season, intra-team competition.
The girls were split up into two teams randomly, team red and team blue, with a variety of JV and Varsity players on both sides. The coaches wanted to encourage more spirit and celebrate the hard work of the girls. There are a variety of ways the girls can win points and the healthy rivalry between friends makes them eager to win points.
Their assistant coach Holly Nichols was very excited about this happening. She had been focusing on making the team more positive all season. Near the end, she came up with a new saying, “GVO — which means Good Vibes Only” Nichols repeats.
The Eagle team had a very successful season, placing in the top five at every regular season meet and invitational they went to. They also moved up to the 5A division this season. But not only did they do well score-wise, they did well determination-wise.
They had multiple injuries throughout the season and the varying levels made it hard but all of the girls put in all their efforts on the events or the sidelines.
The team had very high hopes for the important meets that happened at the end of the season.
On October 18 they competed at Varsity Leagues and on October 19 they competed at JV Leagues which were held at Elizabeth High School. The Varsity girls placed 5th and the JV girls placed 4th.
On October 28 they competed at Regionals at Arvada West High School where they placed 4th securing their spot at Team State.
The LPS team competed at State on Thursday, November 2, 2023. The girls got their highest team score of the season with a 172.125 and a seventh-place victory.
Two of the Eagle Gymnasts, Reese Bryant (HHS) and Abby Nichols (HHS), placed in the top 15 at State leading to Nichols competing as an individual on Floor while the Bryant was first alternate on Beam on Saturday, November 4, 2023.
Overall, the coaches were very happy with the success of their team this year and the girls are sad it is over. They held their banquet on Sunday, November 5, 2023, where many tears were shed. The girls will miss each other but can’t wait to see them again next season.
The three seniors, McKenna Buster (HHS), Mya Rohr (AHS), and Sienna Batron (HHS), may be leaving the team but they will always hold a place in the family and be welcomed back with open arms.
