NEW PALESTINE — There were a lot of reasons for Grace Shanahan to be all smiles Wednesday night.
She added a new skill on the uneven bars, and when she stuck the landing, she gave a big grin and a quick pose to the crowd.
Then, there was the beam. After every successful maneuver, Shanahan had a huge smile on her face. Her entire performance on the beam went well, something that hasn’t been the case for most of this season.
“I’ve been struggling on beam this season for some reason. Just like, falling on little things,” Shanahan said. “So to hit a beam routine that was actually very solid … I don’t know. That’s kind of my personality. I like to smile on beam. It just made it better.”
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Shanahan led the way for the New Palestine gymnasts in the final home meet of the season, a five-team competition that both the junior and her team won.
The Dragons finished in first place with 99.9 points. Franklin Central was second (95.3), Muncie Central was third (82.3), Decatur Central was fourth (29.05) and Lutheran was fifth (28.85).
“The mistakes, like on floor we had a couple of falls, it was because the mat slid,” Bruns said. “It wasn’t really the girls. So that’s what we had to look at. That ended up hurting our team score a couple of points. Other than that, yeah, I think they did pretty well tonight.”
Shanahan won the all-around competition with a 35.175, almost two points ahead of runner-up Lauren Heald from Franklin Central (33.255). Other top six finishers from New Palestine were Kennedy Garrett in third (32.375) and Emma Poag in fifth (30.85).
In the two events Shanahan won — the bars and the beam — there was a large margin between her and second place. She was almost a full point ahead of Heald on the bars, with an 8.9 to Heald’s 7.925, and she was more than a point ahead on the beam, topping Amelia Schroeder from Franklin Central, 9.35 to 8.275.
The other event New Palestine won came from senior Sarah Thompson, who competed for the last time at home and won the floor routine.
Thompson won the event with an 8.775. Shanahan was second (8.5) and Garrett was fourth (8.125).
“It’s been amazing, especially with the team that we have, and with all the injuries that I’ve had, just to be able to compete is a blessing,” Thompson said. “Being able to win my favorite event is something that I’ll cherish.”
“That’s her best event. That’s really what she started in gymnastics for,” New Palestine coach Debbie Bruns said. “She’s been one of our top four sectional floor gymnasts all four years, so for her to come in and win tonight, I was very excited for her.”
In the only event New Palestine didn’t win, the vault, they still had four of the top six finishers. Garrett finished second (8.6), Shanahan tied for fourth (8.425), Poag was fifth (8.4) and Alyse Rickey finished sixth (8.3).
Garrett finished third (7.85) and Rickey was fourth (7.8) on the bars. Garrett was fourth (7.8) and Poag was sixth (7.375) on the beam.
Wednesday’s win was the second-to-last time the Dragons will be at full strength before competing in the Connersville sectional on Feb. 23. Half of the team leaves today for Florida for the national cheerleading competition, so the Dragons will compete in Saturday’s Bloomington North meet with just three gymnasts.
“It’s a good prep for sectionals. Lots of competition,” Bruns said. “These girls are all experienced gymnasts. They’re all used to it. Hopefully that’ll be enough to really get them ready for sectionals. That’s kind of the big picture, with them.”
Once the full team is back together, the Dragons will close the regular season Feb. 19 at Shelbyville.
From there, the goals are big. They just missed advancing to the regional round as a team last year. Shanahan and Thompson both made it individually, with Shanahan just missing the state cut herself.
“There’s room to improve, honestly. There’s always room,” Shanahan said. “But I think we’re at a pretty good spot. We haven’t hit our peak, yet. So I think we’re kind of building up, watering things down when they need to be, putting things in when they need to be put in. I think that if we come in, and New Pal shows up, then we have a pretty good chance of getting the sectional title and going to regionals.”