Enumclaw gymnasts aiming to defend state title

Enumclaw High’s ridiculously successful girls gymnastics team added another prestigious victory to its growing resume Saturday, capturing the West Central District championship.

Enumclaw High’s ridiculously successful girls gymnastics team added another prestigious victory to its growing resume Saturday, capturing the West Central District championship.

The Hornets compiled 179.425 team points during the meet at Mount Rainier High School, outdistancing second-place Decatur High’s 168.65. Highline High finished with 158.30 to round out the trio of team qualifiers to this week’s state Class 2A/3A meet. The state meet runs Friday and Saturday in the Tacoma Dome exhibition hall.

Enumclaw grabbed the team title by placing five girls in the all-around Top 10. Olivia Bannerot was second, Molly Mattheis fourth, Victoria Hernandez fifth, Maddison Ward sixth and Emily Berte 10th.

Individually, EHS registered plenty of Top 10 finishes.

Bannerot won the bars, placed second in both the vault and floor exercise and was 10th on the beam. Mattheis tied for third in the floor exercise and was fourth in the bars and the vault. Hernandez was second on the balance beam, fifth in the vault, seventh in bars. Berte was fourth on the beam, ninth in the floor exercise and tied for 10th in the vault. Ward finished third in the bars, fifth on beam and tied for fifth in the floor exercise.

A final Top 10 was turned in by Maria Blad, who placed seventh in the vault.

This weekend, the Enumclaw High crew will be gunning for its second state championship in the three-year history of the program. The Hornets placed second during their inaugural season and won the 2A/3A title a year ago.