By RICHIE HALL
Reporter Sports Editor
If there’s a philosophy that fits the Noblesville gymnastics team at the moment, it would be “Next woman up.”
Up on to the beam, the vault, whatever. The Millers are dealing with a frustrating round of injuries, but that hasn’t prevented them from producing some very good scores.
Noblesville hosted a meet Wednesday at the Noblesville East Middle School, welcoming teams from Lafayette Jefferson and Harrison, along with individual gymnasts from Lafayette Central Catholic and Tri-County. The Raiders won the team competition with a score of 100.40, while the Millers were second with 94.95.
“Despite our injuries, I still feel like we have a very good team,” said Noblesville coach Jody Ramey. “Ninety-seven is where we ended last year, that’s also where we started this year, but that’s also prior to injuries.”
The Millers started in the vault, traditionally their best event. That was the case again, as Noblesville earned its best score of 25.225 at the meet. Olivia Mangin led the way with a fourth-place score of 8.45, just ahead of freshman Makyala Kauzlick’s 8.425, which got fifth.
Uneven bars were next, where Kauzlick took third with an 8.45. That was followed by the balance beam, where Kauzlick earned a solid 8.975, good for second place and the highest Noblesville score of the night.
“That’s also Makayla’s season high,” said Ramey. Despite a few falls, Ramey said her team is doing very well with its routines.
“We are starting to get out our missed connections, which is huge, because again, it’s all about connections for floor and beam,” said Ramey. “The more you connect in value, the higher your score’s going to be.”
The Millers finished the meet with the floor exercise. Kauzlick won that event with an 8.60, while Mangin took sixth with an 8.30. Ramey said that the team had worked really hard over the last few practices to increase the value of Mangin’s routine.
“And we were able to see a score that matched that tonight,” said Ramey. “I was really proud of her.”
Devyn Palmer scored a 7.725 on floor. Ramey called her “fun to watch” doing her floor routine.
“She also has a show choir background and you can tell,” said Ramey. “So she’s just fun, energetic and enjoyable to watch on the floor. She’s also very poised.
“Makayla, who’s our top gymnast, beautiful to watch on floor. Her leaps are beyond a 180 split. She has flexibility that’s incredible to watch.”
Kauzlick finished second in the all-around with a score of 34.45. The overall winner was Mia Clark of Harrison with a 34.825.
Noblesville’s next meet is Saturday, when the Millers travel to the Connersville Invitational.
Team scores: Harrison 100.40, Noblesville 94.95, Lafayette Jefferson 83.675, Lafayette Central Catholic inc., Tri-County inc.
All-around scores: 2. Makayla Kauzlick 34.45, Devyn Palmer 30.65, Olivia Mangin 29.85.
Vault: 4. Mangin 8.45, 5. Kauzlick 8.425, Palmer 8.35, Kayleigh Sahr 7.75, Ella Deno 7.65, Racheal Glasener 7.375.
Uneven bars: 3. Kauzlick 8.45, Palmer 7.25, Olivia Mangin 6.65, Sahr 6.50, Glasener 5.05.
Balance beam: 2. Kauzlick 8.975, Palmer 7.325, Mangin 6.45, Deno 5.80.
Floor exercise: 1. Kauzlick 8.60, 6. Mangin 8.30, Palmer 7.725, Sahr 7.50, Deno 6.625.
Noblesville’s Makayla Kauzlick led the way for the Millers in their gymnastics meet Wednesday night. Kauzlick won the floor exercise and took second in the balance beam (pictured) and all-around competition. (Richie Hall)