Hampden’s Leong wins; Skowhegan 1st

SKOWHEGAN – Sarah Ames Leong of Hampden Academy capped her high school gymnastics career in style on Saturday as she won the all-around competition at the state high school championships for the second straight year.

Leong was the top finisher in the bars, the vault and floor exercise and scored 37.000 points. She topped Ryan Chandler of Noble (34.475), Gracie Blum of York (34.000) and Carlee Evans of state- champion Skowhegan (33.925) for the title.

The Skowhegan girls piled up 157.475 points en route to the team crown. Biddeford finished second with 147.860 while Kennebunk (142.700), Leavitt of Turner (137.700) and Noble (134.525) rounded out the top five. Waterville (122.775), Belfast (122.175) and Medomak Valley of Waldoboro (97.525) also fielded teams.

The members of the Skowhegan team are: Evans, Chelsea Beaulieu, Jo Burdet, Ashlee Nickerson, Delani Evans, Jillian Cole and Jade Tran.

The Indians finished third behind Biddeford and Noble in the vault with 41.050 points, but were best in the three other disciplines.

Skowhegan scored 36.500 on the bars, 39.950 on the beam, and 39.975 on the floor exercise.

Rounding out the top 10 in the all-around were Sarah Mahar of Kennebunk (32.925), Teagan Bryand of Biddeford (32.900, Amanda Scripture of Poland (32.650), Jillian Cole of Skowhegan (32.425), Jen Hall of Hall-Dale (32.250, Roxanne Deshaises of Biddeford (32.075), and Jessie Derose of Erskine (32.075).

Leong, who finished second as a freshman and a sophomore and won the individual all-around title as a junior, said she entered the competition with a simple goal.

“This year I was more concerned with enjoying my last year,” she said. “I wanted to have a lot of fun this year.”

She succeeded, scoring a 9.250 on the vault, a 9.4 on the bars and a 9.450 on the floor exercise. Leong won those events, but finished second to Carlee Evans on the beam.

Evans scored 9.000, while Leong fell off the beam while trying to perform a handspring-layout combination and scored 8.900.

“It’s funny how you stick the landing during warmups, then you fall off during the meet,” Leong said.

Leong salvaged a win in the vault after sitting down on the landing on her first attempt at a front handspring, front tuck.

She said that after botching the landing, she thought carefully about her technique on her second try.

“I was just trying to remember everything,” she said. “I had to remind myself of what to do.”

Leong said she’ll miss the close-knit gymnastics community. Hampden doesn’t field a full team, so she and teammate Gillian Sarnacki actually practice with the Old Town squad.

“It’s kind of sad, but I’m hoping to do it at college, too, so it’s not quite the end of my gymnastics career,” Leong said.