Three teams took turns tumbling, balancing and vaulting at Dimond High on Thursday as the prep gymnastics season began with a tri meet between Chugiak, South and Dimond. But other than having fans in the stands, the situation wasn't much different from a normal night at Dimond's auxiliary gymnasium.
The gym stays busy from 2:30 to 8:30 p.m. with Dimond, Service and South all practicing there each night. The teams share equipment and their practice times overlap by about an hour.
The athletes and the coaches are learning to deal with the cramped conditions and even say there are some benefits.
"It pushes you when you see what others are doing. It doesn't bother me," Dimond senior Cara Wilcox said. "I know a lot of the faces on the other teams and we cheer for each other."
"It's fun. I have friends on both South and Service, so I get to see them," said Dimond's Delana Eby. "It really builds inter-school relationships. Sometimes it is a bit tough. Dimond and South both have fairly large contingents and when we are both in here it can feel a little cramped."
On Thursday South dominated the first meet of the year with a team total of 227.025 points. The Cougars had five of the top gymnasts in the all-around, led by Haleigh Leitch, who tallied the top total of 34.450 points.
Dimond finished second at 171.9, edging Chugiak's third-place tally of 170.35.
South, the three-time defending Cook Inlet Conference champion, was forced to move its practices to Dimond this year because of problems with the bleachers in their school gym.
"They had some bleachers get stuck in the out position and that space can no longer be used," South coach Jessica Portlock said. "I hope we can move back to practicing at South. I've heard different things might happen, but apparently it is expensive to try to fix the bleachers and I'm not sure how it is going to work out.
"This facility is nicer than what we had, but having to travel is rough. I know the gymnasts and their parents would appreciate it if they had their own place."
Service is in its second year of practicing at Dimond. The Cougars are experienced vagabonds, having practiced at South before that.
"We're pretty much used to it," Service coach Shannon Virgin said. "Obviously it would be a lot easier if we were able to practice at home. We wouldn't have to share equipment and be on a time crunch. There was a time when all three teams were in here, and it was kind of hectic."
Service senior Haleigh Leitch said practicing together takes a little of the mystique out of competing in meets.
"It is not as exciting," Leitch said. "We already know what they are going to throw."
The small gym at Service that the team formerly used has been needed for classes during the day and has also been used by the wrestling team.
"We had some hope for the last few years that if numbers grew we might have our old facility back. But we were told they are changing it to a vocational school, so there is no hope of going back," Virgin said.
The teams had been on a rotating schedule, but have moved into dedicated time slots. South buses over to practice from 2:30 to 5:30 p.m., Service car pools over to practice from 4 to 7 and Dimond takes the floor from 5:30 to 8:30.
Although conditions aren't ideal, the coaches are happy to simply have teams competing as the number of participants in gymnastics has leveled off -- and in some cases risen slightly -- after years of decline.
"They have been threatening to get rid of it as a sport," said Portlock. "The numbers have been really low, but the last two or three years have been going up a little. We've been recruiting a lot. All the schools have. We go down to the middle schools and bring a lot of the girls with us when we do. It's been working."
Find Richard Larson online at adn.com/contact/rlarson or call 257-4335.
South Gymastics Meet
Team Scores -- South 227.025, Dimond 171.9, Chugiak 170.35
All-around -- 1) Haleigh Leitch, S, 34.45; 2) Cara Wilcox, D, 33.95; 3) Kallie Randolph, S, 33.85; 4) Katherine Davenport, S, 33.35; 5) Sarah Salvucci, S, 33.25; 6) Sarah Koenig, S, 31.25; 7) Delana Eby, D, 30.9; 8) Alex Collins, C, 29.5; 9) Courtney Klatt, S, 29.47; 10) Alyssa McGill, C, 29.2
Vault -- 1) Kallie Randolph, S, 8.9; 2) Sarah Salvucci, S, 8.85; 3) Haleigh Leitch, S, 8.7; 4) Sarah Koenig, S, 8.55; 5) Katherine Davenport, S, 8.5; 6) Courtney Klatt, S, 8.325; 7) Cara Wilcox, D, 8.00; 8) Alex Collins, C, 7.95; 9) Madison Mahoney, S, 7.85; 10) Delana Eby, D, 7.8
Beam -- 1) Cara Wilcox, D, 9.05; 2) Haleigh Leitch, S, 8.55; 3T) Kallie Randolph, S; Stephanie Brenner, D, 8.35; 5) Katherine Davenport, S, 8.00; 6) Delana Eby, D, 7.65; 7) Alex Collins, C, 7.55; 8) Katie Jan, C, 7.45; 9) Sarah Salvucci, S, 7.40; 10) Alyssa McGill, C, 7.35
Floor -- 1) Katherine Davenport, S, 8.85; 2) Cara Wilcox, D, 8.8; 3) Kallie Randolph, S, 8.75; 4) Haleigh Leitch, S, 8.65; 5) Sarah Salvucci, S, 8.6; 6) Stephanie Brenner, D, 8.55; 7) Sarah Koenig, S, 8.5; 8) Britttany Hancock, S, 8.35; 9) Delana Eby, D, 7.70; 10) Alyssa McGill, C, 7.55
Bars -- 1) Haleigh Leitch, S, 8.55; 2T) Sarah Salvucci, S; Brittany Hancock, S, 8.40; 4) Stephanie Brenner, D, 8.2; 5) Cara Wilcox, D, 8.10; 6) Katherine Davenport, S, 8.00; 7) Kallie Randolph, S, 7.85 8) Delana Eby, D, 7.75; 9) Lindsey Dudley, S, 7.4; 10: Sarah Koenig, S, 7.2
By RICHARD LARSON
rlarson@adn.com