On Tuesday, January 29th, 2019. The girls’ gymnastics team boarded a bus around 4:35 pm along with their coaches Victoria Brown and Esther Rich to Evergreen high school so they could compete and take victory for their team.

Last year, they held an undefeated record, competing in the SPSL (South Puget Sound Leagues). They competed in all four events: the vault, bars, beam, and floor. The team’s all-around included Diana Caoagdan, Cindy Nguyen, and Catherine Dang.

Renton dominated Evergreen and Tyee in all events with Catherine Dang taking 3rd, Helen Ta taking 2nd, and Diana Ta taking 1st for the vault. Cindy Nguyen and Gwendoline Luu tied for 3rd, Helen Ta took 2nd, and Catherine Dang took 1st for bars. Cordelia Rich-Davis took 3rd, Cindy Nguyen took 2nd, and Diana Ta took 1st for the beam. Katelynn Apolonio took 3rd, Diana Caoagdan took 2nd, and Catherine Dang took 1st for Floor. The all arounds took bronze, silver, and gold, with Diana Caoagdan 3rd, Cindy Nguyen 2nd, and Catherine Dang 1st.

Renton won overall with 133 points, Evergreen took second place with 96 points, and last but not least Tyee took third place with 75 points.

There is 1 panel per event, each panel has one judge. Judges take score by starting from a start value of a gymnast and deduct the score throughout the routine. Judges take deductions for flaws, like extra steps on landing a jump, flexed feet, large steps, falling, etc. Judges look for execution, artistry technique, and composition. Extra points are awarded for good connections and how quickly and smoothly a gymnast can switch between skills.

Gymnasts are not allowed to wear any kind of jewelry if the judge notices any type of jewelry it will result in disqualification from an event(s). Any individual who is involved in the competition is required to silence cell phones during competition. Hair should not come between the athlete and equipment. Gymnast cannot start routine without a signal from the judge, and they must begin within 30 seconds of the signal. Individuals should not walk past in front of judges vision, take pictures with flash or do anything that could distract the judge from watching a gymnast’s routines.

The next gymnastics meet will be the last meet but the most important, it will be the SPSL League Championship meet. It will be at Mt. Rainer High School in Des Moines Washington. Go support the girls!

https://www.redandblack.com/sports/gymnastics-what-to-know-about-scoring-rankings-and-more-before/article_1008352e-56bd-11e2-b46e-0019bb30f31a.html

http://www.wiaa.com/conDocs/Con1649/2018-19%20Gym%20Rules.pdf

https://findmats.com/gymnastics/