Niwot won the 2015 state gymnastics championship in Class 4A. (Brock Laue/CHSAANow.com)
THORNTON — Niwot began the season with plenty of question marks.
On Friday at Thornton High School, site of the Class 4A state gymnastics meet, the Cougars closed the year as state champions.
After finishing third in 2014 with 177.38 points, behind only the champion, Standley Lake (179.05), and Elizabeth (178.35), Niwot was returning some serious firepower, especially in the likes of Marissa Koski, a fourth place finisher in the all-around competition as a sophomore.
But Koski, and several of the other top Cougars, were sidelined early with ailments and injuries.
In the end, Niwot healed in time to put an assault on the 4A field at the state championships. Koski came through with first place finishes in her best event, the uneven bars (9.35), and the balance beam (9.5), and Niwot was able to stockpile points with Lindsey Chohon (first in floor), Ila Katechis (first in vault), Amelia Sears (second in balance beam), Alexis Carroll (third in vault), and a number of others in all four disciplines.
Niwot finished the day with 178.2 points. Elizabeth, the team champions in 2009, 2010, and 2012, was the runner-up with 177.175 and Pueblo Central was third with 166.525.
Katechis, who competed for Niwot as a freshman before focusing on club the past two seasons, rejoined the team as a senior. She said everyone played a role in winning Friday.
Niwot’s Ila Katechis. (Brock Laue/CHSAANow.com)
“We didn’t have Marissa in the beginning,” Katechis said. “She scores big for us. We needed her bar score, for sure, so having her back was awesome. A couple of the girls who had minor injuries are also back. We wouldn’t be here without them.”
Despite this season’s question marks, Niwot knew it had a chance at a memorable state meet if health cooperated.
Marisa Purcell, in her initial season at the school after helping to lead Standley Lake to their first-ever state title in gymnastics in 2014, became the co-head coach with Mallorie Lang, who is in her seventh season at Niwot. Purcell said the team’s coaches were cautious with the ladies’ injuries and made sure not to rush them back too quickly. It paid off with Niwot’s fifth state championship in the sport (tied for 5th most all-time with Overland) and first since winning back-to-back 4A crowns in 2000 and 2001.
“For our co-head coach, Mallorie Lang, it feels so good to be able to get a state title for her and take it back to the school,” Purcell, whose daughter was already on Niwot in 2014, said after winning her second overall title.
Purcell’s former school, Standley Lake, finished fourth with 163.65 points.
On top of that, one of her former athletes, Rachel Cody, only a sophomore, was crowned as the all-around individual champion.
Cody, who earned third place in 2014 behind ultra-talented seniors Alyssa Carroll of Thompson Valley and teammate Jordan Ireland, was second in the uneven bars, third in the balance beam, fifth in the vault, and sixth in the floor on Friday. Her final point tally was 36.625, good enough to edge out the Elizabeth tandem of Lexye Wood (36.175) and Amanda Taylor (35.7), for her first all-around title.
The sophomore said her warm up didn’t go so well, but starting with the floor got her into rhythm and everything fell into place after that.
“It means a lot,” Cody said of being the 4A all-around queen. “It’s weird, because I’m just a sophomore. It’s really an honor.”
Asked if she paid much attention to her competitors, Cody admitted she had her eye on two other teams.
“I pretty much watched Niwot and Elizabeth over and over again,” she said. “I’m really close with Niwot’s team, because that was our old coach. I just focused on my performance today, but I definitely watched them a lot, too.”
As for what a state championship means to not only Cody, but also for her school, the sophomore was ecstatic in her response.
“Our school isn’t really too big on gymnastics but after last year, winning state, they definitely knew we were there,” she said. “It’s really cool for Standley Lake.”
The 4A and 5A state meet will continue on Saturday at Thornton at 4 p.m. Those who finished in the top 15 of any of the four events on day one will compete for the vault, beam, bars, and floor state championships on day two.