Big Sky gymnasts do well at state

Leading his team to a third-place finish at the recent State Gymnastics Meet in Hamilton, Big Sky Gymnastics' Brandon Bushard secured three first-place finishes en route to a first-place finish in the all-around.

Bushard scored a 7.8 to take first on the high bars, a 7.7 for first on the parallel bars, and an 8.3 for first on the vault. Bushard also had three second-place finishes in the Class 2 ranks for the title. Bushard's second-place finishes came in the floor exercise (7.6), pommel horse (5.6), and rings (6.7). Bushard's all-around score was 43.7.

In the Class 3 ranks, Brandon's brother, Stephan, placed second in the all-around with a 42.4 score. Stephan Bushard had two first-place finishes, two seconds, and two thirds. Stephan Bushard's first-place finishes came in the floor exercise with a score of 7.9 and in the vault with a score of 8.1. His second places came in the pommel horse (6.6) and parallel bars (8.2) with his third-place finishes coming in the high bar (5.2) and the rings (6.4).

Adding a second-place all-around finish for the Class 5 ranks was Jess Hannon. Hannon's all-around score was 45.1. Hannon placed first in the floor exercise with a 7.6 score and first in the parallel bars with a 7.8 score. Hannon's one second-place finish came in the high bar with an 8.2 score. Hannon placed fourth in the pommel horse (6.0), fifth in the rings (7.1), and sixth in the vault (8.4).

Big Sky Gymnastics had two competitors in the Class 6 ranks. Carson Pollington finished third in the age 7-9 group. Tyson Gruber had a fourth-place finish in the age 10-11 group.

Pollington finished first in the rings with an 8.7 score and second in the vault with 9.2. Pollington had two third-place finishes, including an 8.0 in the floor exercise and a 6.9 on the pommel horse. Rounding out Pollington's scores were a fourth place in the parallel bars (7.7) and a sixth place in the high bar (7.8).

Gruber earned , an 8.3 score on the floor exercise for first place and an 8.9 on the high bar for second place. Gruber added two third-place finishes, one fourth and one ninth. His third-place finishes came on the rings (8.4 score) and parallel bars (8.4). A score of 9.2 on the vault earned him a fourth-place finish, and he had a 5.4 on the pommel horse for ninth place.

Also competing for the Havre team was Thomas Gruber, who placed fourth all-around with a 52.3 score. Gruber competed in the Class 7 level in the age 6-7 division. Gruber finished with two second places, one third, one fourth, one fifth and one seventh. Gruber finished with a score of 8.7 for second in the high bar and 9.1 in the vault. Gruber added another 9.1 score for third in the rings and finished fourth in the parallel bars. An 8.6 score in the floor exercise earned Gruber a fifth-place finish in the floor exercise, and he had a 7.7 on the pommel horse.

On the girls' side, Casseana Pollington received the highest vault score of all Level 8s with an 8.725. Pollington, who competed in the age 14-15 group, placed third all-around with a combined score of 32.825. She added two third-place finishes an 8.45 in the floor exercise and an 8.0 on the balance beam and one fourth place, a 7.65 on the uneven bars.

Leading the way for the girls with a first-place all-around finish in the Level 4 age 12 and older group was Kirsten Colling. Colling's all-around score was 33.575. Colling placed first in the floor exercise with a 7.8 score and first on the balance beam with an 8.825. An 8.1 score on the uneven bars earned Colling a second-place finish, and she also had an 8.85 on the vault for second place.

The final competitor on the girls' side was Chelsee Colling, finishing eighth all-around with a score of 34. Competing in the Level 4, age 9-11 group, she finished seventh on the uneven bars with an 8.45 score. She added two eighth-place finishes, one in the vault (9.05) and one in the floor exercise (8.45). Chelsee Colling also added a 15th-place finish with an 8.050 on the balance beam.

The Billings gymnastics team earned first-place honors at the meet, with Bozeman taking second.

The Big Sky Gymnastics Club is preparing for the regional meet in Boise.