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All-Region gymnastics: Sarah Ellis, Columbia River

Ellis’ season started with injury, then ended with a state title

By Paul Valencia, Columbian High School Sports Reporter
Published: March 15, 2017, 10:46pm
3 Photos
Columbia River junior Sarah Ellis, the all region gymnast of the year, is pictured at The Columbian Thursday March 9, 2017.
Columbia River junior Sarah Ellis, the all region gymnast of the year, is pictured at The Columbian Thursday March 9, 2017. (Ariane Kunze/The Columbian) Photo Gallery

Sarah Ellis got past the frustration.

She overcame the injury.

She led her team to state.

She qualified for finals.

All of that made her gymnastics season a success.

Then, on the final day of the Class 3A/2A state meet, the junior from Columbia River High School won the championship on the balance beam.

“Winning was just icing on the cake,” she said.

Ellis endured several emotional swings in the three-month high school gymnastics season. Actually, the down times started with a partially torn ligament in her right ankle, suffered in club gymnastics, just before the Chieftains started practicing for the winter.

By February, though, she earned medals in two individual events at state — including that title — and finished 11th in the all-around. With that, she has been named The Columbian’s All-Region gymnast of the year for the second consecutive season.

Ellis still looks back in disbelief, considering the start of the campaign.

“I was so upset. ‘This ruins everything,'” she said to herself back in November. “I was just saying that because I was really sad.”

Making it tougher to handle, she was named one of the team’s captains. It is difficult to lead when not participating.

“It was really hard to watch everyone work and I couldn’t be out there,” Ellis said. “My coaches reassured me that the best thing for me to do for my team was to rest up, to get better.”

Ellis followed that advice, and she got stronger and stronger as December turned into January. She won the district all-around title for the second year in a row, as well as two individual event titles.

Next came state.

“I was so nervous,” she recalled. “The week before, I got really stressed. I knew once I got there, everything would be fine, and I was right.

“I just got focused and really excited to showcase the skills we’d been working on.”

Ellis finished in a tie for seventh place on the vault and won the balance beam.

She said she thought she had “wobbles” during her beam routine and would have understood if the judges had knocked down her score a bit. If they did, it wasn’t much. Her 9.5 was enough for the title.

“For me to win, that was really special,” she said.

Then she got to be on that top spot on the podium at the awards ceremony.

“That was so cool.”

Just a few months earlier, she was a spectator, hoping for the best.

By February, she was among the best in the state.

Rest of All-Region team

  • Alexa Dietz, Camas: Senior was 4A GSHL first-team selection; district all-around champion; third at state on floor; fifth on vault.
  • Nina Evans, Mountain View: Senior was 3A/2A GSHL gymnast of the year; placed third at state on vault; fourth on bars.
  • Emily Karkanen, Camas: Senior was the 4A Greater St. Helens League gymnast of the year, helped Papermakers to runner-up finish at state.
  • Emily Mattsen, Heritage: Junior was 4A GSHL second-team selection; third at district in all-around; placed seventh at state on vault.
  • Jacqueline Purwins, Camas: Junior was 4A GSHL first-team pick; district all-around runner-up; third at state on bars; fourth in all-around.
  • Kylee Tjensvold, Ridgefield: Senior was 3A/2A GSHL first-team selection; district all-around runner-up; placed second at state on beam.
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Columbian High School Sports Reporter