Staff Report
CONNERSVILLE — The New Palestine gymnastics team had a postseason streak to maintain and the Dragons kept it going during Saturday’s Connersville Sectional Tournament.
New Palestine placed third at sectional to earn an automatic berth into this upcoming weekend’s Columbus East Regional, which marks the program’s third consecutive advancement.
New Palestine finished with a score of 98.75 to advance. Richmond (106.625) won the sectional title with New Castle (104.6) in second overall.
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The Dragons finished ahead of host Connersville (92.95), Rushville (92.55), Shelbyville (86.7), Morristown (83.275) and three other teams.
Last year, the Dragons placed third as a team to advance to the regional with a score of 103.55.
In 2018-19, New Palestine amassed 102.05 points for second place at sectional, and in 2017-18, the team nearly missed a team regional spot with a fourth-place finish (99.50 points).
This year, junior Kennedy Garrett posted the squad’s best individual performance at sectional by finishing fourth in the all-around with a score of 33.6.
As a sophomore last season, Garrett placed sixth in the all-around with 34.37 points. The team didn’t qualify for the state finals in 2019-20, but the program was represented by former senior Grace Shanahan inside Ball State University’s Worthen Arena last March.
At sectional, the top-six place winners in each event move on to the regional tournament in addition to the top-three teams. The same qualifications apply at the Columbus East Regional on Saturday at 1 p.m.
On vault, senior Emma Poag led the Dragons at the Connersville Sectional with a fifth-place finish (8.75). Garrett and junior Alyse Rickey both finished 12th (8.5).
On uneven bars, sophomore Addi Kendall finished seventh (8.0), with Rickey ninth (7.85) and Garrett 10th (7.7).
On balance beam, Garrett finished sixth (8.4), with Kendall 11th (7.825) and Rickey 12th (7.65).
On floor exercise, Garrett finished sixth (8.95), with Poag 10th (8.3) and Kendall 11th (8.275).
