TACOMA - Kristen Rodal of Highline (Burien) captured the gold on the beam by motoring through a nearly flawless series of routines on the way to a stunningly super 9.7 and added a solid silver medal effort on the vault (9.675) in the top showing of area performers in the Saturday, Feb. 18, individual events competition of the 2012 Class 3A/2A WIAA/Dairy Farmers of Washington/ Les Schwab State Gymnastics Meet.

"Kristen is another refugee from the Level 10 gymnastics that suffered a fractured back and decided to try school gymnastics," said a pleased Highline Pirate head coach Dawn Tessandore. "She's a little spitfire that knows what she wants and goes out to do it. She's just a consistent and solid performer. Her personality goes well with her teammates. On Facebook, she thanked her teammates for their support. I'm just really pleased to have her."

As a junior, Rodal has been very happy about her experiences in trying something new.

"It's been a really good experience," she recalled. "I've really liked it. I just wanted to have fun here, and I had an awesome time being part of a team. On the beam, today, I stayed tight and focused. That was pretty much it."

The top eight achievements of the 16 final day qualifiers earned the chance to be on the medal stand.

Anna Paradee of Decatur missed medaling on the vault by .075 in a 9.25 posting in the event won by Kiya Bjorge of Southridge (9.7). Paradee also came close to a medal with a 10th place 9.0 on the beam.

For John F. Kennedy, senior Charlotte Dittmar scored 9.075 for a ninth place beam.

"I did better than yesterday, so I'm still happy about how I did," said the Lancer gymnast. "I felt good."

Jennifer Debellis of Columbia River swung to first place on bars (9.4) while Bjorge took first on the floor (9.75).