FeedsCanton gymnasts beat Plymouth
The Canton Lady Chief tumblers won the top three spots in every event to get by cross-campus rival Plymouth, 140.20-115.90, on Thursday.
Canton’s Alyssa Kelley won the all around with an impressive 36.40. Teammate Jessie Murray followed close behind with a total score of 35.65.
On vault, Kelley took the top spot with a 9.25. Murray followed with an 8.95. Canton’s Chelsea Selden tied with Plymouth’s Kasey Zebair for third place. Each competitor scored an 8.25. Lady chief Olivia Stephens scored an 8.2, good for fifth, and Plymouth earned sixth with Erica Kosmalski’s 8.15.
Kate Staley and Kelley tied for first place on the uneven bars with 8.70s. Murray wrapped up third with an 8.55. Selden (7.75) and Stephens (7.70) rounded out the scoring for Canton in fourth and fifth places respectively. Kosmalski landed in sixth (7.20) for Plymouth.
Canton balanced its way to the top five finishes on the beam. This time Murray captured first place with a 9.35. Kelley was close behind with a 9.10. Andrea Houdek finished third (8.65), Selden, fourth (8.60) and Kaitlyn Burns, fifth (8.55). Plymouth’s Jordan Brodehl was sixth (7.95).
Kelley ran the floor competition with a 9.35, good for first place. Burns was second with a 9.10 and Staley rounded out the top three spots with an 8.90. Murray was fourth (8.80). The floor was Plymouth’s strongest event. Brodehl’s 8.35 was good for fifth place, while Kosmalski, Zebair and Danielle Gemrick all tied for sixth place with 8.05s.
Canton Coach John Cunningham unleashed 27 girls in the competition in order to give some of the younger competitors a chance to shine in front of a crowd.
“I was pleased from top to bottom,” he said. “Plymouth had a great meet, too. A lot of their kids improved—dare I say—by leaps and bounds.”
Some of the highlights from beginners—many in their first or second competition—included Heather Popoff (6.35 on beam), Whitney Slottke (5.5 on vault), Abby Phillips (6.1 vault), Chelsie Husband (6.5 on vault) and Willa Chen (6.5 on vault and 5.9 on beam). Kathy Marion had a good all around day, acquiring a 7.0 on floor a 6.65 on beam and a 6.15 on vault.
Canton also placed second in a tri-meet against Saline and Troy Athens at Saline last Tuesday.
The Lady Chiefs racked up 143 points in the outing to follow meet champs Athens (143.250).
Despite the team’s second place finish, Kelley won the all-around with a top score of 36.925. She nearly scored nines in every event for the honor. She was first place on vault with an impressive 9.60 and second on floor with a 9.50. She scored a 9.00 on the bean for a fourth-place finish and an 8.825 on bars for third.
Her teammate Murray did score all 9s to wrap up second (36.650) in the all-around standings. She was second in two events. She earned a 9.175 on beam and a 9.00 on bars. She also finished in third on two events with a 9.20 on vault and a 9.275 on floor exercise.
Canton heads to the Farmington Invitational at 9 a.m. on Saturday and hosts its other cross-campus rival Salem at 7 p.m. on Tuesday. Canton’s invite is slated for 10 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 3.
Plymouth hosts Walled Lake Northern and Walled Lake Central at 7 p.m. on Wednesday.
