Merrillville Gary Tribune Post

 

INDIANAPOLIS -- Once the chalk dust cloud had cleared following Saturday's IHSAA girls gymnastics state championships at Perry Meridian High School, the result that appeared was all-too-familiar.

Top-ranked Valparaiso came away as team state champions for a state-record seventh time, officially passing Fort Wayne Dwenger, which finished fourth in Saturday's championships.

The state championship is also the Vikings' second-straight.

"It's amazing," Valparaiso senior Kellie Kidd said. "Back-to-back, and last year was my first year on the team and we got first place, and then we got first place again today, so it's a great feeling."

The Vikings' score of 113.575 -- second highest all-time, behind only its own state championship-record of 114.225 set last season -- was more than two points greater than state runner-up and conference rival Chesterton's score of 111.500.

"I'm getting older, so I realize how hard it is to do it, how many things have to come into place and line up to make it happen, so I think they get more special as they go along," said Valparaiso coach Lorie Cook, who has guided the program to all seven state championships. "You realize how little it takes for a perfect season not to finish the way you want it to."

The state title wasn't quite secured for the Vikings through the first or second rotations. Cook said Valparaiso relied on experience and overall leadership to take a two-tenths-of-a-point lead following the second rotation into a slow-but-steady ascent to the top.

"You just have to trust that you can go out and do your job," Cook said. "Our kids did what we asked of them -- go out and perform your routines as you usually do, and that's what they did."

The Vikings leaned on an individual state championship performance from Kidd in the vault and a second-place finish in the uneven parallel bars -- their final two events -- to maintain the lead and win the title.

"We know that we're pretty confident on vault," Kidd said. "We knew that we just had to hit our vault, and on bars, we had to swing our hearts out, and that's what we did (Saturday)."

Kidd was also able to claim her second-straight all-around state championship in dominating fashion, as she captured individual titles in the vault, balance beam and floor exercise routines. Her high school career ends with six individual state championships in just two years of competition, good enough for a tie for third place all-time in the state.

"It took a lot of routines, a lot of consistency and a lot of help from my teammates pushing me through, making sure I was doing what I was supposed to," Kidd said. "Having them back me is what I think really pushed me over the edge."

Cook said overall consistency led to Kidd's dominance in the state the past two seasons.

"Kellie has ice water in her veins," said Cook, who has now coached a state-record 20 individual state champions and nine all-around state champions. "She puts some pressure on herself because she's a perfectionist, she wants to do well for her team, No. 1, and then for herself, because that's important to her."

Valparaiso also had two other gymnasts receive medals on the day. Senior Emily Holmen's 9.525 was good enough for sixth place in the uneven parallel bars, and freshman Steffanie Long's 9.675 earned her a third-place finish in the floor exercise.

As for the state of the gymnastics program at Valparaiso, Cook was able to reflect back on the former athletes and coaches that made a state-record seven state titles a possibility.

"Obviously, it's wonderful for our program and our school to have the most state titles and obviously that is a testament to the athletes that we have coached throughout the years," Cook said. "This is a true testament to all that has come before, as well, as a team, and obviously we're very proud of that."