B-CC wins third straight Montgomery County title

By Ryan Mink
rmink@digitalsports.com

Last year Bethesda-Chevy Chase was so superior it was a given that the Barons would walk through the Montgomery County Championships to another state championship. And the Barons did.

But this season, injuries, sickness and bad luck plagued Bethesda-Chevy Chase to the point where they made the Barons beatable.

They struck again in Tuesday’s championships at Blake with leader Ebony Walters scratched from the all-around competition, a couple Barons out with sickness and others fighting through injuries.

Bethesda-Chevy Chase still rallied though, winning its third straight Montgomery County championship and finishing off its third consecutive undefeated season with a score of 171.725, beating Blair by 11.325 points.

“That’s been the story of our season,” B-CC Coach Dana Creager said. “We had one thing after another. I was really worried. I really didn’t think we were going to be undefeated this year.”

Sophomore Whitney Boross was still battling a foot injury heading into Tuesday and the Barons have had to rally through two cases of mononucleosis this season. Abby Klein was still out with the illness.

Then Walters, B-CC’s leading gymnast and defending state all-around champion, scratched from the uneven bars and therefore the all-around competition because her bar grip broke in warm-ups. Walters tried on other grips but they did not fit and she didn’t want to risk injury a week before Nationals competition.

“I think at first the girls were like, ‘Our top girls, where are they? We can’t win,’” Creager said. “I told them to focus on their individual routines. We’ve won meets without them before.”

Bethesda-Chevy Chase didn’t have a single gymnast place in the top six of all-around and only had four top-six finishes in all the events combined.

The Barons were carried once again by their depth. Sophomore Julie Siegel stepped up to lead the Barons in all-around with a score of 34.450, including a 9.15 on beam. Boross notched a 9.2 on beam and junior Allegra Barnes, who won the junior varsity competition last year, had three scores counted.

“Knowing we had to have a good meet this year made it more special,” Creager said.

Walters still finished third overall in the vault (9.55), fourth on beam (9.375) and first on floor (9.5). The junior would have won the all-around competition for the third straight year if she had notched at least a 8.625 on bars.

“It’s a little disappointing, but overall I think I did okay,” Walters said. “I wanted to win. Who doesn’t, I guess? It doesn’t always go your way.”

Walters’ scratch left the door open for another Level 10 gymnast, Walter Johnson sophomore Shannon Mitchell.

Mitchell notched a 38.0, edging Blake’s Nicole Williams by 0.5 points. Mitchell, who placed fourth as a freshman last season, won the bars (9.45) and beam (9.55), placed second on vault (9.65) and took third on floor (9.35).

She said it was disappointing that Walters had to bow out of the all-around competition but that she felt strong and confident that her 25 hours of training a week would give her a good chance to win.

“I felt pretty strong and confident,” Mitchell said. “I worked hard. So the hard work paid off.”

Bethesda-Chevy Chase will likely have to compete without Walters again next week for the state championships. The Barons and Blair will take on the top two teams from Anne Arundel county Wednesday at Sherwood at 5:30.


Team Scores

1.    Bethesda-Chevy Chase (BCC), 171.725
2.    Blair (BL), 160.400
3.    Blake (BK), 157.875
4.    Walter Johnson (WJ), 156.625
5.    Sherwood (SH), 140.625
6.    Gaithersburg (G), 97.350
7.    Springbrook (SP), 86.725


Top Six Finishers

All-Around
1.      Shannon Mitchell, WJ, 38.0
2.      Nicole Williams, BK, 37.5
3.      Monika Looney, BK, 36.85
4.      Hanna Brande, SP, 36.55
5.      Sophia Seidell, BL, 36.025
6.      Jenny Roche, WJ, 35.175

Vault
1.      Nicole Williams, BK, 9.7
2.      Shannon Mitchell, WJ, 9.65
3.      Ebony Walters, BCC, 9.55
4.      Jenny Roche, WJ, 9.525
5.      Hanna Brande, SP, 9.475
6.      Monika Looney, BK, 9.3

Bars
1.      Shannon Mitchell, WJ, 9.45
2.      Sophia Seidell, BL, 9.35
3.      Monika Looney, BK, 9.0
4.      Whitney Boros, BCC, 8.95
5.      Kayla Perry, BK, 8.7
6.      Hanna Brande, SP, 8.65

Beam
1.      Shannon Mitchell, WJ, 9.55
2.      Hanna Brande, SP, 9.425
3.      Nicole Williams, BK, 9.4
4.      Ebony Walters, BCC, 9.375
5.      Sophia Seidell, BL, 9.275
6.      Monika Looney, BK, 9.25

Floor
1.      Ebony Walters, BCC, 9.5
2.      Nicole Williams, BK, 9.4
3.      Shannon Mitchell, WJ, 9.35
4.      Monika Looney, BK, 9.3
5.      Sophia Seidell, BL, 9.1
6.      Jenny Roche, WJ, 9.05