By Andrew Zuckerman
In the 15-minute timespan between the end of the Montgomery County girls gymnastics championship meet and the awards ceremony, Bethesda-Chevy Chase coach Dana Creager had one objective in mind - keep her team from finding out what she already knew:
The Barons had won the meet, set a county record and successfully defended their championship.
Since B-CC was the host school, Creager was the first to know the results. She also was the emcee of the evening and announced them to the teams and crowd watching on - objectively.
Creager kept a straight face during the announcement, but when she read off the final scores, the B-CC girls erupted after hearing their record 180.850 total. For the second consecutive season, the Barons won the county championship.
"I'm very excited because I knew we had the talent to do it," Creager said. "It was just a matter of making sure that we had a good meet. We have a lot of talent this year, and we'll have a lot of talent back next year."
B-CC cruised past the other five schools, much like it had done throughout its undefeated regular season. Walter Johnson (172.950) placed second and Sherwood (167.125) rounded out the top three. Blake (162.625), Blair (151.400) and Springbrook (139.300) also competed in the meet.
The Barons' graduating seniors are hoping the back-to-back titles have laid the groundwork for long-term success in the county.
"We definitely all worked really hard at practice," B-CC senior Katie Pelton said. "So it's nice for all of us. I think we definitely set a standard of not just winning championships, but working hard. It didn't just come to us, so it's expected of the girls to work hard."
B-CC and Walter Johnson will meet again next week at the state tournament, and if the Barons perform as well as they did on Thursday, they'll be near impossible to beat. Last year, three points separated B-CC, Walter Johnson and Blake. This year, it was a much bigger margin.
"It was great for us to be able to get second place," Walter Johnson coach Jill Neustadt said. "We lost to B-CC in the regular season, so we kind of expected them to come out ahead."
B-CC was led by Ebony Walters, who won the balance beam and floor exercise events and placed second in the vault and uneven bars. It was enough to give her first place in the all around with a score of 38.250. Walters just edged out Blake's Danae Johnson, who scored a 38.100 all around.
Johnson and Nicole Williams won the vault and uneven bars, respectively.
"I didn't really expect it," Walters said. "All of us are good gymnasts here, and I compete against them out of school, so I know what skills they have."
Results
Vault
1. Danae Johnson, Blake - 9.825
2. Ebony Walters, B-CC - 9.675
3. Shannon Mitchell, Walter Johnson - 9.600
Uneven Bars
1. Nicole Williams, Blake - 9.550
2. Ebony Walters, B-CC - 9.425
3. Danae Johnson, Blake - 9.350
Balance Beam
1. Ebony Walters, B-CC - 9.500
2. Shannon Mitchell, Walter Johnson - 9.425
3. Alexa Banda, Sherwood - 9.350
Floor Exercise
1. Ebony Walters, B-CC - 9.650
2. Danae Johnson, Blake - 9.625
3. Nicole Williams, Blake - 9.450
All Around
1. Ebony Walters, B-CC - 38.250
2. Danae Johnson, Blake - 38.100
3. Shannon Mitchell, Walter Johnson - 37.100
Team
1. B-CC - 180.850
2. Walter Johnson - 172.950
3. Sherwood - 167.125
4. Blake - 162.625
5. Blair - 151.400
6. Springbrook - 139.3
