Freshman gymnast Cynthia Vallejo was buzzing with nerves as she stepped up to take her place on the floor, her final event. She was the only freshman on the North Creek girls gymnastics team, and it was her very first home meet against Juanita High School. The rest of the team was lined up on the edge of the mat, wearing glittering purple-and-silver sequined leotards, shouting words of encouragement as she landed flip after flip, in sync with the bright track playing through the gym speakers. When her routine finally ended, Vallejo had a glowing, triumphant smile on her face, all nervousness evaporated. The team erupted in cheers as she walked off the mat, senior captain Sydney Tran giving her a high-five.
It was a spectacular night for gymnastics, with North Creek beating Juanita High in nearly every aspect. Tran had placed 3rd overall and fellow senior Kelsey Arnold had landed first place, with most of the team, including Vallejo, placing in the top ten. These talented gymnasts aren’t just teammates, though; they’re close friends. “I love them, and the sport too,” Vallejo said. “All the upperclassmen girls all really look out for us, and they’re really supportive, especially our captains Sydney and Alena.”
Alena Hardin, a junior who also placed in the top ten, says they are a very happy team. “We all enjoy each other’s company,” she added with a smile. According to her, practices are three hours long and filled with a lot of music, dancing, and fun, along with warm-ups and conditioning.
“This year we’re really close, almost to the point where we don’t always stay on task,” Tran admitted, laughing. Like many of the girls, along with high school gymnastics, she does competitive gym outside of school. “In my club it’s more just about winning,” she explained. “But [here] you can try new skills if you want and if there’s no bar. It’s just more fun and easygoing.”
Tran and Hardin both explained that this gym season has been much different than the season last year, not only with the team’s relationship growing stronger, but also with the absence of the team’s former captains, which caused many of the upperclassmen to step up and fill their shoes. And when this year’s seniors graduate, the sophomores and juniors will have to learn how to be leaders as well.
“I’m really close to [the seniors], so I’ll be really sad to see them leave,” Hardin said. Vallejo, who is also close with the upperclassmen, has looked up to them as role models for a while now. “I’m going to miss the seniors so much,” she confessed.
As for the seniors, it’ll be tough to leave behind their fellow gymnasts and deeply rooted friendships when they graduate. “It’s really sad. Literally I’ve known [Cynthia] since she was a baby,” Tran said. Since this is her final year doing high school gym, she and the other seniors are looking forward to making this last season count. “There’s a lot of new teams in 4A so I don’t know what that means for us, but I think we’re all doing really good,” she said happily. “I’m excited.”
