All-Region gymnastics: Sarah Ellis, Columbia River (video)

Sarah Ellis tries to fight off that first instinct.

She was about to say that gymnastics does dominate most of her waking hours, but there is more. A lot more. She has school. She competes in track and field, too. She has other things that are important.

Still, she cannot deny the passion.

“I don’t want to be, ‘Gymnastics is my life.’ … But.”

Here it goes.

“I don’t want to think my life revolves around gymnastics, but it kind of does,” Ellis explains. “I really do like what I do.”

A year-round club gymnast and also a high school gymnast for Columbia River, Ellis can’t get enough of her sport. On a typical day in the winter, she practices five to six hours a day, half the time with her club, the other half with the Chieftains.

“Hard work pays off,” Ellis said.

Ellis finished seventh in the all-around at the Class 3A/2A state gymnastics meet.

in the prestigious all-around competition. She also won the district title. The Chieftains won the district and regional team titles before finishing third at state.

For all of that, Ellis is The Columbian’s All-Region gymnast of the year.

A year ago, she finished 13th in the all-around competition. She was thrilled with her improvement.

“I knew my hard work was going to pay off. It was bound to happen,” she said. “Last year was kind of a blur, being freshman year. This year, I’ll remember it better.”

More importantly, according to Ellis, the Chieftains peaked at the right time. Going into state, they knew they had the potential for a top-three finish. Then they all had strong days. All six Chieftains nailed their routines on the balance beam.

It was during the team competition when Ellis shined in the all-around.

“I wasn’t focused on myself,” Ellis said. “I really wanted to hit my routines for my team so we could put up the best possible score as a team. I think I did accomplish that.”

Many accomplished club gymnasts who compete in high school gymnastics echo those thoughts. The team aspect of high school gymnastics is special, something that club gymnastics doe not embrace.

“I really love it when my teammates, if they are struggling on a skill, they hit their routine,” Ellis said.

For Ellis, though, doing both at the same time can be grueling. She said she likes how the sport makes her better at time management. And there are days she has to take it easy in practice, just to give her body a rest.

Not that everyone was thrilled with her decision last year to try to do both. Her club coaches would have preferred she focused on club.

Caleigh Lofstead, Camas
4A GSHL gymnast of the year; district vault champion; advanced to state on bars, beam and vault

Jacqueline Purwins, Camas
4A district champion in bars, beam and all-around; placed 15th in the all-around at the 4A state meet.

Kylee Tjensvold, Ridgefield
Tjensvold was beam champion, all-around runner-up at 3A district; placed 7th at state on bars.

Kylie Weaver, Union
4A district runner-up on vault, bars and all-around; state finalist on the beam at 4A state meet