Lake Washington gymnastics wins 3A KingCo title, qualifies for districts

By John William Howard • February 5, 2017 1:30 am
From left: Lake Washington High School gymnasts Paige Chickering, Audrey Arnold, Kaysha Walford, Eden Netz, Yael Pasumansky, Anna Merlino, Sonya Amirzehni and Joeli Pence. The Kangs finished first at the KingCo 2A/3A meet on Saturday in Issaquah. WILLY PAINE/Courtesy photo
From left: Lake Washington High School gymnasts Paige Chickering, Audrey Arnold, Kaysha Walford, Eden Netz, Yael Pasumansky, Anna Merlino, Sonya Amirzehni and Joeli Pence. The Kangs finished first at the KingCo 2A/3A meet on Saturday in Issaquah. WILLY PAINE/Courtesy photo

The Lake Washington High gymnastics team swept first place in three of four events to claim the top spot at the Class 2A/3A KingCo Conference championships on Saturday, Feb. 4, at Issaquah High School.

The Kangs also qualified for next weekend’s district championships as a team. Lake Washington scored 168.7 points as a team. Bellevue (158.775) and Interlake (155.075) were second and third, respectively. Both teams also advanced to the district meet.

Lake Washington’s Kaysha Walford won the all-around with a cumulative score of 36.775. Walford finished first in the bars, scoring a 9.05, and was fourth in the beam and third in both the floor routine and the vault.

Lake Washington’s Audrey Arnold won the floor routine, scoring a 9.75 to edge Interlake’s Frankie Paszkeicz, and Lake Washington’s Paige Chickering won the beam event.

Arnold finished second in the vault, just .05 points behind Sammamish’s Sydney Griswold, and took fifth in the bars event.

As the Kangs qualified as a group, all eight gymnasts, including Sonya Amirzehni, Anna Merlino, Eden Netz, Yael Pasumansky and Joeli Pence move on to districts.

Juanita finished fourth as a team with 148.95 points. Emma Harrington finished second in the beam and third in all-around, and Daphanie Chan placed second in the bars.

Harrington and Chan both qualified for the district competition as two of four all-around gymnasts.

Juanita’s Maria Vlad and Madeline Ingersoll qualified in the vault. Vlad also qualified in the bars, in the beam and in the floor routine.

Juanita’s Abbie Holand and Annalisa Lett were also qualifiers in the floor routine.

Sammamish finished fifth, Mercer Island sixth, Liberty seventh and Redmond eighth in the team standings.

The Class 3A District Two championships, at which gymnasts can qualify for state, are scheduled for Feb. 11 at Ballard High School. The top four teams, top six all-around gymnasts and top 18 individuals in each event qualify for the state championships.