The Olathe North Gymnastics team attended their first meet of the season on September 7th at Shawnee Mission Northwest. The team also participated in two other meets, placing second and fourth. Their latest meet was at Olathe South on September 18th where the team took first place in the Falcon Invitational. 

A few big changes were made in the gymnastics team since last season. This is head coach Mallory West’s first year coaching at North. West previously coached for Olathe East, Olathe West, and Olathe Northwest. For the first time, West is coaching all the Olathe high school gymnastics teams. Her teams practice together at Mill Creek Learning Center, Monday through Friday from 3:30 to 5:30. Due to the fact that meets and training are a big time commitment, school work and extracurricular activities can be hard to manage for gymnasts.

“I’m in cheer, gymnastics, and school, so I have a lot of homework,” sophomore Delaney Stanley said. She is able to keep up with other activities, but must make time for gymnastics. 

“It can be [a lot to balance], but you just have to stay ahead of your work,” junior Jillian Klusman said. This is something many student athletes can relate to.

Considering the stats of previous meets, the Olathe North Gymnastics team has an exciting season ahead of them. “I think we’re going to do pretty good this year,” Klusman said. “We might have a chance at placing at state, which is pretty awesome!”