Columbus North’s Reese Euler performs her floor routine against Columbus East at Columbus East, Monday, Jan. 8, 2024.
Paige Grider | For The Republic
No matter the margin of victory in Monday night’s crosstown gymnastics clash, both Columbus North and Columbus East could come away pleased with the improvement they made over last week’s season openers.
The Bull Dogs scored more than five points better than in their opener, and the host Olympians went up by almost a point-and-a-half Monday when North posted a 106.95 to 94.95 victory.
“We did better for the most part,” North coach Bob Arthur said. “There was a single judge per event, so sometimes, we’ll get a little bit extra. The girls did improve, and the best thing about it is, there’s still plenty more room for improvement. We shouldn’t top out at 106. We have to be able to go higher.”
Junior Reese Euler improved her all-around score by nearly a point-and-a-half to win with a 36.6 for the Bull Dogs. She won the vault (9.5), bars (9.15) and floor (9.45) and finished third on the beam (9.5).
“I landed on my face on vault (in Wednesday’s win against Franklin Central),” Euler said. “I didn’t land on my face today, which was very nice actually. My floor routine was way better. That was good. Our vault as a team was also way better tonight. That really helped our score.”
North’s Laney Acton placed third on the bars (8.5) on her way to a third-place finish in the all-around with a 33.45. Ellie McIntier took third on the vault (9.15) and fourth on the bars (9.45) on her way to a fourth in the all-around with a 33.05.
The Bull Dogs’ Hannah Perry finished second on the vault (9.35) and beam (8.55) and third on the floor (8.9), but a cramp that halted her bars routine cost her a shot at a high all-around finish. North’s Emerson Chambers was fourth on the floor (8.45).
For East, freshman Bethany Lewis finished second in the all-around with a 35.1. Lewis placed second on the bars (8.6) and floor (9.1) and fourth on the vault (9.0) and beam (8.4).
“The goal is to improve, and they did,” East co-coach Katie Menefee said. “We do have other areas that we need to work on to help.”
“We had another competitor tonight that helped us out,” East co-coach Melissa Dishinger added. “Lauren Dixon was in for this meet. Our goal is to improve, and we improved tonight.”
The Olympians had just opened their season on Saturday with a dual-meet loss to Westfield.
“I think the fact that we get to practice tomorrow is a bright spot for us,” Dishinger said. “Two back-to-back meets is really hard. The girls did good for having two back-to-back meets. Tomorrow, we get back to work and get to actually work on our improvements.”
Columbus North 106.95, Columbus East 94.95
All-around: 1. Reese Euler (CN) 36.6; 2. Bethany Lewis (CE) 35.1; 3. Laney Acton (CN) 33.45; 4. Ellie McInitier (CN) 33.05.
Vault: 1. Euler (CN) 9.5; 2. Hannah Perry (CN) 9.35; 3. McIntier (CN) 9.15; 4. Lewis (CE) 9.0.
Bars: 1. Euler (CN) 9.15; 2. Lewis (CE) 8.6; 3. Acton (CN) 8.5; 4. McIntier (CN) 8.45.
Beam: 1. Arwyn Tian (CN) 8.95; 2. Perry (CN) 8.55; 3. Euler (CN) 8.5; 4. Lewis (CE) 8.4.
Floor: 1. Euler (CN) 9.45; 2. Lewis (CE) 9.1; 3. Perry (CN) 8.9; 4. Emerson Chambers (CN) 8.45.
