The Bainbridge gymnastics team finished fifth and North Kitsap seventh out of 47 teams at the WIAA 1A/2A/3A State Championship Feb. 23.

The Spartans finished with 162.875 points; NK had 160.15. Two Spartans advanced to the finals Feb. 24 in two events each.

In the finals, Bereman finished 8th on the floor with a 9.375, 11th on the beam with a 9.025 and 16th with an 8.0 in the vault. Gray finished 13th on the bars with 8.525 and 9.0 on the vault.

“There are a lot of really good athletes here today,” Spartan Avery Gray said. “I feel like we did pretty good and stepped up from last year so I’m proud of that.”

Jade Bereman led the Spartans in nearly every event, including qualifying for the finals in the vault and balance beam. “It was all about having fun and being relaxed,” Bereman said. “We did that today.”

Bereman finished third in the vault with a score of 9.325. She tied for seventh in the beam with a 9.225. She also scored a 7.8 in the uneven bars and a 9.175 on the floor exercise for a total of 35.525 in the all-around.

Gray qualified for the finals on the vault with a 9.1 and on the floor with a 9.425. She also scored 8.2 on the beam and an 8.4 on the bars for a total of 35.125 in the all-around.

Bereman finished 12th all-around and Gray 13th. The other Spartans who competed included Grace Reeb finishing 26th, Liz Oliffe 42nd, Libby Pickle 52nd, Sydney Oswald 105th, Shawna Smith 127th and Mayah Lane 129th.

The careers of seniors Oliffe and Pickle ended. “I think it’s the best we have done this season,” Pickle said. “Everyone did really well.”

Even though NK finished high in the team standings, only one Viking advanced to the finals. Jordyn Lovett scored 8.375 in the vault, 8.0 on the bars, 8.850 on the beam and 9.15 on the floor. She scored 9.15 in the finals on the floor and placed 14th. “It’s sad after being here for four years,” Lovett said. “We did very well today and did what we needed to do.”

“Considering we had a rough start because we didn’t have transportation, they did really well,” coach Kristina Goodfellow said. “It wasn’t their best beam day, and I think that had to do with the nerves. Once they settled down, they posted some of their better scores.”

Lovett finished 20th in the all-around with a total score of 34.375 in the four events.

Goodfellow was proud of her team for overcoming the adversity it faced the past two seasons. It was the first time in years NK qualified for state as a team.

“Last year Jordyn qualified in all four events,” Goodfellow said. “She hurt her knee, Kelsey [Derr] had an anxiety attack, and Alivia [Palmer] was never academically eligible. Going from that to what happened today is exactly what I wanted.”

The other Vikings included Palmer finishing 36th all-around, Miller 37th, Derr 40th, Allison Lovette 75th, Rachel Bruns 82nd, Mason-Todd 122nd and Allyson Stone 137th.