If a student shows up to a Friday night football or basketball game, he or she will see the highly spirited Hype Squad cheering on the popular school sports. If that same student shows up to a Thursday night home gymnastics meet, the stands only contain parents. Why is it that our school is willing to support teams with losing seasons, yet cannot make their way to a free meet to watch girls perform daring skills, maintain an undefeated record and compete for a state championship? Many students may not even know that the school has a gymnastics team. It is time to stop overlooking gymnastics and appreciate the success they bring to the athletic department.

Gymnastics differs from most sports in that the team is much smaller, as it is only made up of 9 girls. Juniors Olivia Zavrel and Juliette Mitrovich have been leading the team since freshman year. Both girls competed individually at states last year and are eager for another round. Freshman Julia Hays is new to the team this year, yet she has already made a name for herself in high school gymnastics, having placed first all around in the majority of the meets. All three girls, along with sophomore Marisa Daugherty, secured individual regional spots and contributed to the team’s conference title.

“It is as much of an individual sport as it is a team sport and you don’t find that often. With basketball or soccer, if a teammate is focused on only themselves and not the team, the team won’t be able to collaborate well but with gymnastics, you do want to focus on yourself because how you do individually affects how the team does as a whole,” said Mitrovich.

The team’s collaboration has obviously paid off, for they remain undefeated and have taken down defending state champion, McLean High School, multiple times this season.

“We try to work hard in our practices and we have a lot of fun and get along well. We might be a little off some days, but when it comes down to it, we can all rise to the occasion and do our best when we compete,” said Hays.

Although the team has had immense success this year, the last two years have not been as rewarding. The team fell short at conferences, placing third behind Washington-Lee High School and McLean both years. These upsetting defeats only made the team stronger, hungry for revenge and ready for redemption.

“Placing third at conferences really pushed us during practice to work our hardest and try to increase the difficulty in our routines. The losses gave us chips on our shoulders compared to McLean and W-L, who thought they had their place on the podium in the bag,” said Zavrel.

While some teams might let the success get to their heads, this is not the case with Yorktown. The team remains grounded to keep their streak going.

“Honestly, we didn’t even realize we were undefeated until the third or fourth meet. After we realized it, our coaches kept reminding us to just focus on ourselves at each meet and to do our best and everything will fall into place,” said Mitrovich.

On February 13, the team placed first at regionals. This landed the team a spot at states in Virginia Beach on February 19. Hays, Mitrovich and Zavrel also scored high enough to compete at states individually on the 20.

“I am at a loss of words. The last couple of years of being so close to moving on as a team, but falling short, have made the win even sweeter. I have to say it feels incredible,” said Zavrel.

2016 has proven to be sweet for Yorktown gymnastics. The team wrapped up the impressive season by placing fourth at states. In addition, Mitrovich and Hays return to school as state champions. The girls brought home the gold when they tied each other for first on state individual beam. This incredible accomplishment is something the school should appreciate, maybe enough for the Hype Squad to make an appearance at one of their meets next year.