TACOMA - For gymnast Baylee Hamilton of Mount Rainier, smiling through pain during competition has long been a part of her sports life. Exclusively competing in Level 10 club gymnastics until nagging lower-back pain forced her out last summer, the senior Ram added gold to her Friday all-around championship during the Saturday, Feb. 18, individual event competition.
Limping noticeably after each of her three events on Saturday, February 18, at the Tacoma Dome Exhibition Hall, the gritty athlete had much to grin about after recording a 9.625 bars first place and missed joining a tie for first on the floor by 0.025 of a point, finishing with the bronze medal at 9.625. She was also fourth on the beam (9.1).
It was an admirable way to bid farewell to her first and only season as a high school gymnast, even if she had to shuffle a bit while executing her way to and through events.
"I was a little bit sore, but I felt good about today," she said. "I've had back injuries for a long time, and usually after meets my back is pretty dead and worn out, so having another meet in less than 12 hours really killed me."
With a grin and shrug of her shoulders, she explained the pain that her limp was not about her ankles or knees.
"When I my back is messed up, my legs are messed up, so everything hurts, but I've learned how to work with it," continued Hamilton. "I actually did better than I thought I was going to be able to do with my back, so I'm happy."
Competition involving the top eight gymnasts from a long Friday night qualifying on each event produced top quality efforts in order to gain a top four medal winning spot on the awards stand.
Another former Level 10 gymnast -- Cheyenne Gavino -- placed seventh (8.0) on bars and tied for fifth (9.425) on the floor exercise for Mount Rainier.
Todd Beamer's Sam West closed out her high school gymnastics career by tieing for the silver on the vault (9.4) and swinging to a bronze medal on the bars (9.2).
"I'm happy with how I finished," said the Lady Titan. "It was my best vault and I did well on the bars. I liked ending it at state."
When asked about her greatest memories of her career, she laughed and talked about the Friday qualifying.
"I missed my coach, but we were still able to pull it together and be here," she said.
Beamer head coach Gina Foster was home with an incredibly tough 24-hour virus, but was on hand Saturday to pull for her athlete in her final high school competition.
Lady Gator Leah Freeborn tied for sixth on the vault at 9.225 in an event won by Britney Atwell of Heritage in a 9.65 performance.
For the Thomas Jefferson Raiders, Monica Church finished seventh on the floor (9.3). Jefferson senior Madi Kellar, who qualified for the finals in three events, was unable to participate due to a concussion.
Candace Ho of Newport won the floor with a 9.65 score while Jazmin Harris of Union took gold on the beam (9.425).
