The Marysville High School gymnastics team is pictured from left, front row, Bella Grimm, Kelsey Murphy, Hannah Scheiderer, Monica Lamb, Hannah Bates and Avery Murphy; back row, Jenny McKillen, Brianna Watkins, Piper Kidd, Abbey Bates, Lucy Johantges, Abbi McLaughlin and coach Amber Calvert. Not pictured, Chloe Baschnagel. (Journal-Tribune photo by Sam Dillon)
Marysville High School’s gymnastics squad will be led by several returning lettermen.
Those veterans include seniors Hannah Bates, Hannah Scheiderer and Jenny McKillen; junior Chloe Baschnagel and sophomores Avery Murphy and Kelsey Murphy.
Each of those athletes will compete in all events during meets.
The lettermen will be joined by a number of gymnasts new to the Lady Monarch high school program.
They include junior Piper Kidd (all-around), sophomore Lucy Johantges (floor exercise) and freshmen Brianna Watkins (all-around), Abbey Bates (all-around), Bella Grimm (floor exercise), Abbi McLaughlin (floor exercise, balance beam and vault) and Monica Lamb (floor exercise and vault).
“We have a very deep, experienced team with lots of girls who can compete in all four events,” said coach Amber Calvert. “We have some experienced (from middle school) freshmen as well as a transfer, Piper Kidd, who has a great deal of competition experience.”
The Lady Monarchs’ slate of meets will look a bit different this year, since they have moved to the Cardinal Division of the Ohio Capital Conference.
“That’s a bit of a change,” said Calvert. “We will be facing two teams in our division – Dublin Jerome and Olentangy Berlin – which qualified for the state meet last year.
“Those two teams will make our division tough,” said the coach. “However, we are still excited about the season.”
Calvert said she hopes the Lady Monarchs can average a team score of 132 and also qualify an athlete or athletes to the state tournament.
The biggest goal, she said, is to keep every gymnast healthy and injury-free.
“We want to have a safe and healthy season,” she said. “We had a successful middle school season during the fall and followed all COVID protocols.
“As cases continue to rise, we hope we can keep a healthy team.”