Tired of the frigid conditions? Want to enjoy a sport that is both indoors and breath-taking? Skyline Girls Gymnastics is the place to look. These talented girls are off to a solid season and are more than ready to bring home Spartan glory.

Courtney Roberts, a junior on the gymnastics team, performs at the high bars in a meet against Newport.

Although the turnout this year is somewhat lower than anticipated with only 18 athletes, all girls love their sport and are willing to work hard. In fact, the girls gymnastics team did not cut any athletes this year in an effort to promote the willingness to learn and improve.

The result of this dedicated squad is a number of strong athletes to watch. Dani Cogswell, Jaymi Matsudaira, Rachel Blyth, Courtney Roberts, and Shelby Miller, among others, have shown tremendous promise. For many Skyline gymnasts, dedication extends beyond their high school team and into community training venues like Gymnastics East.

As they continue to improve, some of our gymnasts have even considered the prospect of performing on a larger scale. Junior Jaymi Matsudaira said “If we were as good as [role models Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson], we wouldn’t be doing high school gymnastics; We’d be in the Olympics! But everyone has talent, so it’s not like we are so far off that it is completely impossible”.

However, expert coaching and hard work are not all that goes into helping Spartan gymnasts prepare for glory. Instrumental is the gymnast’s own ability to confront her fears about an inherently dangerous aerial sport unforgiving to any lack of precision. Ironically, most gymnasts seem to agree that considering the risks actually hurts more than helps as paranoid thoughts can potentially stifle the athlete’s performance and jeopardize safety.

In addition, parents and friends of athletes help out at meets and even participate in fundraisers. In the words of one gymnast “They do a lot for us, so we have to remember to thank them. And everyone appreciates their support and encouragement”.

Who can we watch our female Spartans in action against? As always, the biggest rival is Issaquah, whom the Spartans have already fought valiantly against this year. But rest assured, this rivalry is friendly and only serves to bring out the best abilities of both camps as the Skyline gymnastics coach is close friends with her counterpart in Issaquah.