Seattle’s Holy Names earns three-peat at state gymnastics meet. White River’s Schillen, McGinnes pace locals

For the third consecutive season, Seattle’s Holy Names Academy won the team title at the Class 3A/2A/1A state gymnastics championship Thursday at Sammamish High School in Bellevue.

The Cougars edged runner-up Lake Washington, 181.325-180.275, while perennial state power Kamiakin (179.55) and Ballard (177.825) rounded out the podium finishes.

Capital, which placed seventh as a team with 136.3 points led by Izzy Sanchez, was the top South Sound finisher.

Lake Washington posted the best combined scores in the vault, balance beam and floor exercise, but a fifth-place finish in the uneven bars was enough to give Holy Names — which had the top combined score in the event — the decisive mark.

The Cougars had a top-10 finals qualifier in each of the four events — including teammates Cait McNeill and Ally Neiders who tied for third in the bars (9.4) — who contributed to their team score.

Kamiakin’s Amaya Gayles won Thursday’s all-around competition with a score of 37.925, topping Mount Spokane’s Gina Twenge (37.6) and Ballard’s Lianne Kistler (37.575).

Sammamish’s Sydney Griswold — who won the all-around competition two years ago as a freshman, was the runner-up last year, and was crowned the champion of all four individual events last season as a sophomore — finished tied for fourth (37.55) with Kamiakin’s Abigal Winstead.

Griswold holds the top score in the bars entering Friday’s individual finals, while Lake Washington’s Laly Noriega tops the beam, and Gales is the leader in the vault.

White River’s Chylye Schillen (35.95) was the top local finisher in the all-around, tying for 13th. She also carries the top qualifying score in the floor (9.675) entering the finals.

“Chylye did a really great job today, she’s been pretty consistent with that routine,” Hornets coach Ben Skipworth said. “She does a really good job. She’s one of the top gymnasts I’ve coached.”

White River’s Erin McGinnes finished 18th in the all-around at 35.45.

Other Hornets that performed well were Erin McGinnes and Mackenzie Hale. McGinnes had three top-25 placements in all the events, including 18th overall in the all-around; and Hale finished 38th in the all-around.

“Erin did better this week than she did last week,” Skipworth said. “She had one little mistake on bars. She’s solid on the floor, stuck her beam routine, and she stuck the first vault.”