THORNTON - Loveland’s Hannah Bower and Anna Simmons of Mountain Range continued on their winning paths Saturday in the state gymnastics meets at Thornton High School.

For Simmons, though, it was like she never left the building. The Class 4A all-around champion won all four individual events. But the Mustang’s sophomore needed a tie-breaker to win the balance beam against Pueblo Central’s all-around runner-up, Tera Sisson.

Sisson, a junior, also finished second on vault and third on bars, but a fall on floor saw her drop to 11th.

Bear Creek won the team title in Friday’s Class 5A competition and Mountain Range won the 4A title in Saturday’s competition.

There were a few doubts as to whether or not Simmons would win the uneven bars. But when all the results were in, she was in command. She won the beam with a score of 6.675, floor exercise with 9.7, the vault with another 9.7 and finally, the bars with an uncharacteristic 9.05.

Bower won the beam with a 9.675 and vault, scoring a 9.8. The other two events were won by Michelle Tharp of Fort Collins who scored 9.8 on the bars and 9.775 on floor.

Simmons had a major bobble on the bars and there were few in the full house at Thornton who thought she would win. But other 4A competitors also found the going rough. Evergreen’s Bethel Lindsley was second here with a 9.0 and was the only other to score a 9 on the event.

"I felt a little off on my hand spin on bars, so I tried to control it and under rotated," Simmons said. "I tried my hardest tonight, did my best and this is my best. It is hard to ask for a better situation. And, winning the team title today also made for a memorable meet."

Bower, who became the first gymnast from the large school classification to win three consecutive all-around titles, had hoped for a better night. But she knew the competition was again going to be intense.

"Tonight was not the very best that I could have done which is Ok," Bower said. "It was more for fun, though. It was hard going from floor to bars with so little time. I could not even breath on my bar routine because I was so exhausted from my floor. It was hard. I just didn’t want to fall on my dismount.

"On vault, I wanted to do a new skill on my second one," Bower said. "But the judges didn’t let me because it was not in the current high school rule book. Michelle also came back very strong."

Tharp, who finished sixth in the all-around after a runner-up finish last season, knew she had to regroup. And, she got ready talking on the phone with state runner-up, Gentry Knaub of Thompson Valley and going out for coffee and doughnuts.

"I was so mad about last night, so I tried not to care so much," Tharp said. "Me and Gentry talked for over an hour on the phone. She helped me relieve my stress and we pumped each other up. I just said whatever happens (Saturday) I’m going to go hard."

Knaub placed second on floor, fourth on the vault and bars and fifth on the beam.

"It was really good as there was a lot of competition on everything," said Knaub, a junior. "It was a good night, but not exactly where I wanted it to be. I really wanted to hit vault. I hit it better than I hit (Friday), but not as good as I wanted."

Green Mountain’s Kelly Stone placed second on the vault and third on the bars. Doherty Sara Moldenhauer was the runner-up on the beam followed by Bear Creek’s Nicole Erpelding.

Sisson, a junior, also finished on vault and third on bars.

Class 5A

Balance beam - 1. Hannah Bower, Loveland, 9.675. 2. Sara Moldenhauer, Doherty, 9.575. 3. Nicole Erpelding, Bear Creek, 9.575. 4. Brittney Garner, Broomfield, 9.55. 5. Gentry Knaub, Thompson Valley, 9.5. 6. Kristin Milardo, Pine Creek, 9.45.

Floor exercise - 1. Michelle Tharp, Fort Collins, 9.775. 2. Gentry Knaub, Thompson Valley, 9.7 * tie-breaker. 3. Hannah Bower, Loveland, 9.7. 4. Aditi Kulkarni, Bear Creek, * tie-breaker 9.65. 5. Allison Griego, Overland, 9.65. 6. Katilyn Olson, Bear Creek, 9.575.

Uneven bars - 1. Michelle Tharp, Fort Collins, 9.8. 2. Hannah Bower,Loveland, 9.75. 3. Kelly Stone, Green Mountain, 9.725. 4. Gentry Knaub, Thompson Valley, 9.675. 5. Dayne Queillo, Pine Creek, 9.65. 6. Aditi Kulkarni, Bear Creek, 9.6.

Vault - 1. Hannah Bower, Loveland, 9.8. 2. Kelly Stone, Green Mountain, 9.725. 3. Michelle Tharp, Fort Collins, 9.7. 4. Gentry Knaub, Thompson Valley, 9.65. 5. Kristin Milardo, Pine Creek, 9.625. 6. Karin Schwarz, Chatfield, 9.6.

Class 4A

Balance beam - 1. Anna Simmons, Mountain Range, 9.675 * tie-breaker. 2. Tera Sisson, Pueblo Central, 9.675. 3. Kaitlin Stewart, Liberty, 9.3. 4. Kelsy Downs, Pueblo Central, 9.15. 5. Bethel Lindsley, Evergreen, 9.025. 6. Erin Krause, Sterling, 8.925.

Floor exercise - 1. Anna Simmons, Mountain Range, 9.7. 2. Bethel Lindsley, Evergreen, 9.675. 3. Alex Hermanson, Elizabeth, 9.225. 4. Jamie Fiske, Mountain Range, 9.125. 5. Kaitlin Stewart, Liberty, 9.1 * tie-breaker. 6. Jennifer Rockwell, Pueblo Central, 9.1.

Uneven bars - 1. Anna Simmons, Mountain Range, 9.05. 2. Bethel Lindsley, Evergreen, 9.0. 3. Tera Sisson, Pueblo Central, 8.675. 4. Kasia Kiljanek, Elizabeth, 8.65. 5. Lindsay Benson, Sterling, 8.625. 6. Lindsay Benson, Sterling, 8.575.

Vault - 1. Anna Simmons, Mountain Range, 9.7. 2. Tera Sisson, Pueblo Central, 9.3. 3. Kaitlin Stewart, Liberty, 9.175 * tie-breaker. 4. Erin Krause, Sterling, 9.175. 5. Bethel Lindsley, Evergreen, 9.125 * tie-breaker. 6. Kasia Kiljanek, Elizabeth, 9.125.

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