Winning a fourth straight district title would have been the ultimate price for the Washington-Liberty Generals.
But since the girls high-school gymnastics team was far from being at full strength, a more realistic goal was to at worst earn a region-tourney berth by finishing among the top three.
Mission accomplished.
With a 135.8 team score, the Generals, who hosted the Liberty District championship meet, placed third, just ahead of their Arlington County rival Yorktown Patriots with 137.375. The Langley Saxons won with 137.225 and the Marshall Statesmen were second (137.125).
Washington-Liberty was missing three of its top gymnasts, two with injuries. The Generals earned the region berth with a strong performance on the balance beam (just one fall) on their final of four events.
“To finish third and to be going to the region was like a victory for us, with all the girls we were missing,” W-L coach Joe D’Emidio said. “It was a nail-biter to the end and a great feeling for the team. To stay on the beam like we did in our last event was so important.”
The Generals were led at the meet by Mara Gerardi with a fifth-place all-around finish at 34.4.
Grace Chen was another top W-L performer. She won the floor exercise at 9.375, was second on the uneven bars (8.925), tied for 13th on the beam (8.4) and did not score on the vault.
Alana Johnson (tied for third on the bars, 8.35), Charlotte Dennis, Devin Nemirow, Abby Hogan and Ella Bomberger were other key scorers in the meet for Washington-Liberty.
Yorktown was led by the sixth place all-around finish of Jillian Burpee (33.85). Nattie Good, Juliane Hunger, Nathalia Cloque, Cady Anderson Garbov, Maren Stroup, Clara Kresse, Olivia Juergens, Madison Mastrangelo and Avery Stoker were other top performers for Yorktown.
The Wakefield Warriors finished sixth in the team scoring with a 127.5 score. They were led by a third place in the all-around by Gabby Watts (35.05) and a third on the vault by Elizabeth Haley (9.15).
Watts won the balance beam with a 9.55 score and was third on the floor at 9.3. Wakefield’s Sofie Vazquez was fifth on the floor (9.225).
Defending champion Washington-Liberty is scheduled to host the region meet Feb. 9.