State gymnastics: Mead takes third in 4A behind Dezlyn Lundquist’s fifth place all-around finish

BELLEVUE – The Mead gymnastics team picked a good night to have its best meet of the season.

Moving up to 4A after competing the past three seasons at the 3A/2A tier, the Panthers leaned on their best balance beam score of the year to place third in tightly competitive State 4A gymnastics meet Friday night at Sammamish High School.

The Panthers racked up a season-high 176.55 points, falling less than a point shy of first-place Woodinville (177.25) and runner-up Lake Washington (177.1).

Hanna Bjerkstrand, in her sixth year as head coach at Mead, showed zero disappointment with the outcome.

“It’s great,” Bjerkstrand said, noting that the Panthers finished four points behind Woodinville and Lake Washington when they faced off in a district meet Feb. 8. “We saw good improvement from the last time when we faced them, so we did all we could. Little improvements on each event added up to a good score. Credit to the girls for focusing on all the little details.”

Senior Dezlyn Lundquist capped off a stellar career by placing fifth in all-around with a score of 36.525. Lundquist exceled despite battling the effects of a high ankle sprain she suffered in practice Feb. 12.

“I went to physical therapy every day,” she said. “You just have to think that God has a plan and whatever he wants to happen is going to happen. I haven’t tumbled on floor or vault until today, and it was just the best I could do in the moment with the situation I’m in. That’s all I can ask for.”

Bjerkstrand was impressed by Lundquist .

“We had to shift a few things,” she said, “but overall she knew that she wanted to do a state meet. After every event, we asked, ‘How are you doing? Are you OK?’ We told her we knew it was going to hurt, but if it was causing damage, we’ll stop. Every time, she said, ‘I feel good.’ ”

“She came in with the attitude of one event at a time, and so did I, and she excelled.”

Lundquist was content with her performance.

“There was nothing I could really do better,” she said. “I hit everything. We changed my routines. Some of the difficulty went down because I couldn’t quite do everything. I did the best that I could, and I’m proud of how I competed.”

Lundquist was one of four Mead gymnasts to finish among the top 20 all-around finishers. Delaney Christoff finished in a 12th-place tie (35.225). Makena Christoff was 17th (34.925) and Tabitha Pierce was 20th (34.725). Only Woodinville also had four gymnasts in the top 20; Lake Washington had two.

One of Bjerkstrand’s five assistant coaches, Zella Conley, was named state 4A assistant coach of the year. Bjerkstrand commended Conley, a two-time individual state champion for Mead in 2017, for coaching the Panthers’ 20 junior varsity gymnasts.

In Thursday’s 3A/2A meet, won by Ballard (173.75), North Central placed eighth with a score of 150.65. NC’s Brooklyn Lawrence took seventh in all-around (35.1). University’s Kyla Roberts finished 21st (34.05), followed by Mt. Spokane’s Aleah DeWitt (33.95) in 22nd. Central Valley’s Kylie Morais was 25th (33.9).

In Friday’s 3A/2A individual event finals, Morais placed second on floor (9.075), and Lawrence took fifth on vault (9.0) and eighth on beam (9.0). Mt. Spokane’s Chloe McQuesten was named 3A/2A assistant coach of the year.