NEW PALESTINE — Each of her high school gymnastics seasons had finished strong.
Kennedy Garrett’s junior season was no different, but the New Palestine Dragon isn’t satisfied after a third straight trip to the Columbus East Regional.
The 2020-21 Hancock County Gymnast of the Year finished seventh on floor exercise at the regional meet, just one spot away from qualifying for the IHSAA gymnastics state finals.
Finishing with a score of 9.225, she missed sixth place by just .025. It was the third straight year she had a seventh-place finish at the regional.
The top six qualify for the state meet.
In 2019-20, as a sophomore, Garrett was seventh on beam, again just .025 away from the final-qualifying spot.
As a freshman, she was seventh in the all-around, just .4 away from advancement.
“Seven isn’t such a lucky number for me. It’s frustrating, but a big motivator,” Garrett said.
She wasn’t just strong on floor exercise for the Dragons in 2020-21. Garrett was the team’s top-overall gymnast. At the regional she was also eighth (8.575) on beam and 10th (34.675) in the all-around. She also had a team-best 14th (8.950) on vault.
At the Connersville Sectional, she was fourth in the all-around (33.6), sixth on both floor (8.95) and beam (8.4), tied for ninth on vault (8.55) and 10th on bars (7.7), helping lead her team to an 11th regional appearance in the last 12 years.
One of the things that motivates Garrett is she knows she’s so close.
“It’s really a big motivator knowing I’m really close to being up there with the state competitors,” Garrett said. “That’s probably my main motivation for next year.
“Initially, it was pretty frustrating (not making it to state). Once I realized that I’m right there, even though it has happened three years in a row, I have to keep in mind that I can do it. I’m that close.”
New Palestine head coach Debbie Bruns knows her top gymnast has the ability and will put in the time to get to the next level. Her junior’s work ethic is second to none.
“Kennedy is one of those kids you never have to tell her twice,” Bruns said. “She’s just over there and getting it done. She has a very impressive work ethic. She gets her stuff done so quickly, too. I’ll say, ‘you need to get this done’ and she will have already done it because she started 20 minutes before everybody else. She has already moved on to the next event.
“I know it was a little disheartening for her (not to make it to state). She worked hard enough to get it. That’s just the way it is in scoring for gymnastics.”
Bruns said her standout’s ability to adjust, make changes and try new things are reasons she has had such a strong gymnastics career at NPHS.
Prior to the sectional, to help her get a better start value on her floor exercise routine, Bruns put in a new element. Usually, the coach said, it takes months to take a new move from the practice pit to the competition floor.
Garrett did it in four to six practices. Her regional floor exercise score was one of her tops in that event all season.
“She’s very adaptable,” Bruns said. “A lot of kids, when they get to high school, they are not interested in learning new skills. They’re done. They may learn something here and there or move some things around in their routine, but Kennedy is unique in that she learns a new skill every year and puts herself out there to do that.”
“We made a couple last minute changes and I think it turned out pretty well even though I didn’t have an ideal amount of time to prepare,” Garrett said. “Changing things up is a struggle for me some times, but in the end, I work through it. It definitely (helped). It was kind of a last minute decision but I think it was the right one.”
It didn’t get her to state this time, but there’s no doubt the hard-working Dragon will be ready to give it another shot her senior season.
“I plan to really focus on my goals and just keep working,” she said.
