Despite stellar performances by Spartan gymnasts Brooke Nall, Dana Cuykendall, Brittany Belt and Katherine Samstag, the Bainbridge squad just missed a state berth as a team — placing third overall in Saturday’s Sea-King 3A District Meet at Sammamish High School with a score of 168.85 points.

With only the top two teams advancing, Issaquah took first place with 178.8, while Newport captured second with 175.05.

“I think we’re disappointed that we didn’t make it as a team,” head coach Cindy Guy said, “but third place is nice. Newport and Issaquah are just so much better.”

Nall swept the uneven bars, balance beam and floor exercise, and a fourth-place finish on vault catapulted the junior to the top of the all-around standings with 37.65 points — a new Bainbridge High School record — beating her previous record of 37.3.

“Brooke had a great meet,” Guy said. “I think that she’s probably up there to be first, second or third at state.”

Nall, who looks to better last year’s fourth-place finish, will have stiff competition from Issaquah senior Maureen Poston, and Kennedy’s Kim Merlich.

Cuykendall had trouble on the vault Saturday, but turned a near miss on the bars into a display in gymnastics improvisation. Her ad-libbed recovery after the slip was described by Guy as “the longest, most creative routine I’ve ever seen.”

And Cuykendall’s floor routine is sure to turn heads this weekend.

“She’s got one of the best choreographed routines in the state,” Guy said. “Her tumbling is outstanding.”

Belt, a junior, qualified for floor, beam and bars, and Samstag will also compete on vault for the Spartans.

Bainbridge gymnasts march out Friday at 8:45 a.m. at the Tacoma Dome, with opening rounds beginning at 9 a.m.