Puyallup’s Rylye Anderson, Kentwood’s Ashley Yang win titles at 4A gymnastics meet

Momentum can be a powerful thing for an athlete.

For Puyallup High School gymnast Rylye Anderson, the momentum she built up by winning both the beam and floor events at the Class 4A West Central District meet only grew stronger as she took both the floor as well as the center stage at the state finals.

After making it to the final day, Anderson used every bit of momentum she had left and finished first on the beam (9.475), third on bars (9.50) and fourth on floor (9.450) on Saturday at Sammamish High School in Bellevue.

To round out her season, Anderson took 15th on the vault.

Kentwood’s Ashley Yang who took the top spot in the vault (9.625) on the final day. Cecelia Loudermilk of Kentlake placed in a two-way tie for third (9.50), while Emma Rochleau (9.475) of Tahoma and Tori McConnell (9.450) of Rogers finished fifth and sixth, respectively.

Loudermilk also finished in a two-way tie for fifth on the bars after winning the event (9.525) at the WCD meet.

While Anderson had the top local finish (third) on the floor event, Yang finished sixth (9.40), and Yang’s sister Ashley finished in a five-way tie for seventh (9.350).

And, while Anderson was top on the beam, Auburn Mountainview’s Ariana Martinez (9.350) was also in that five-way tie. Martinez finished sixth on the beam, while Emma O’Toole of Rogers finished tied for eighth.

Cora Taylor of Bothell took the top spot in the bars, posting a final score of 9.650. Shea McGee of Camas was right behind her, finishing second with a score of 9.550. Though Anderson could not be beat on the beam. Camas took spots two through four with Alyssa Shibata, McGee and Lilli Ford.

Anna Helbling of University finished first with her floor routine, earning a score of 9.525. Maddie LoMauro of Newport finished just behind her with a final score of 9.500, while McGee of Camas finished third.