Valhalla girls’ gymnasts flip with joy

Senior Kylie Halls performing on beam

On April 29, the Valhalla girls’ gymnastic team competed against the El Cajon Valley Braves at the Thunderdome. The Braves only had seven varsity girls competing for their school while Valhalla had eight varsity and twelve junior varsity competitors. The final overall team scores would be 149.44 for Valhalla and 93.98 for El Cajon.

The meet kicked off at 4:15 p.m. with an opening ceremony. Quickly after the ceremony all gymnast dispersed to their different events. Valhalla began on the beam.

Due to the high temperatures in the gym it made it a struggle for the Norsemen to maintain their footing and balance. In the end, Valhalla junior Mikayla Devries and junior Mallory Foote would place, respectively, second and third with the scores of 7.55 and 7.1. El Cajon junior Karina Pulido would place first with an 8.4. On optional beam a Brave took third place with a score of 5.6 and juniors Kaylie Ferkich and Caitlin Zamudio placed second and first with the scores of 7.3 and 8.25.

The second event Valhalla tackled was floor. Devries and Foote placed second and third with the scores of 9.0 and 7.7. Pulido took the top position with a score of 9.5. In regards to optional floor Ferkich placed third with a 7.3, Zamudio placed second with 8.3 and sophomore Paige Bounds placed first with an 8.35.

On bars, Valhalla faced the constant struggle of maintaining a firm grasp. The final scores were Foote with a 5.3, Devries with 5.7 and Pulido with a high score of 9.1. The optional bars ending results were two Braves taking third and second with the scores of 5.2 and 5.5 and Zamudio placing first with an 8.25.

A Valhalla Norsemen about to do a flip on the uneven bars 

Last but not least, the Norsemen competed on vault. Foote scored a 7.05 and Devries scored an 8.0. Pulido once again seized first place with a score of 9.525. On optional vault a Brave took third place with a score of 6.2. There was a tie for second place between Bounds and Ferkich with a 7.45 and Zamudio placed first with an 8.05.

At the end of the meet after all the equipment was stashed away the awards ceremony commenced. For all-around, Foote placed third with a 26.35, Devries placed second with a 36.525 and Pulido took first with a 39.25. For optional all-around, third place went to Bounds who scored 23.7, second place went to Ferkich with a 25.05 and Zamudio claimed first with a 31.85.

The final score, 149.44 to 93.98, left Valhalla victorious giving them their first win of the season.  “I am really proud of the team!” Devries said. “I hope we can perform like this in our next meet!”