Two Fallbrook gymnasts qualify for CIF meet

Two members of Fallbrook High School's gymnastics team qualified for the CIF meet May 19 at Mount Carmel High School.

Olivia Engebretson, who was a junior during the 2016-17 school year, was Fallbrook's optional gymnast and qualified for the CIF meet as an all-around gymnast. Olivia Christopherson, who was a freshman, competed at the compulsory level and qualified for the CIF meet in the vault.

That gave Fallbrook two CIF qualifiers among only four varsity gymnasts. "We had a small team this season," said Fallbrook coach Krystal Schmid.

Six varsity gymnasts are scored at a meet, and at least one of those must perform an optional routine. The lack of a full team hampered Fallbrook's success at dual meets this year. Three all-around scores of at least 35 points qualify a compulsory gymnast for the all-around at the CIF meet while three scores of at least 9.0 points in the same event qualify a compulsory gymnast for the CIF meet in that event. The qualifying thresholds for an optional gymnast are 33 points for the all-around and 8.6 points for an event.

Christopherson did not join the gymnastics team during the pre-season practices. "She came in about halfway through the season," Schmid said. "She got right in there."

The Avocado League meet took place May 10 at Mount Carmel High School. Engebretson had an all-around score of 33.500 points which was worth sixth place among optional gymnasts. "She had a really rough meet at league finals," Schmid said.

The first event is the vault, and Engebretson was awarded 8.325 points which shared seventh place. She took ninth place in the bars competition with 7.925 points. Engebretson then placed fifth with 8.700 points on the beam and fourth for her floor routine which provided 8.550 points.

"The second two events she picked it back up," Schmid said.

A score of 31.400 points gave Christopherson 14th place in the compulsory all-around, and her score of 7.700 for the beam also provided her with 14th place. She was 16th in the floor exercise with 8.250 points, shared 17th for the vault routine with 7.950 points, and took 21st place for her performance on the bars which garnered 7.500 points.

The CIF meet saw Engebretson compile 31.600 all-around points for 23rd place among optional gymnasts. She placed seventh on the vault with 8.750 points,18th for the floor portion with 8.500 points, 26th on the beam with 7.750 points, and 28th on the bars with 6.600 points.

"Overall I think she had a really good season," Schmid said.

Christopherson shared 46th place on the vault with 8.250 points.

Schmid graduated from Fallbrook High School in 2012 and became Fallbrook's co-coach with Shar Larsen for 2013 and 2014. Sarah Engebretson and Schmid were co-coaches in 2015 and 2016. This year Schmid was the head coach and Engebretson was her assistant coach. Engebretson was Fallbrook's optional gymnast before she graduated from Fallbrook High School in 2014 and her sister took over as the Warriors' optional competitor.

"I've never seen a team get along so well," Schmid said. "That's always nice when you're dealing with high school girls."

Schmid will be transferring to San Jose State and Sarah Engebretson will be transferring to Cal Baptist, so neither member of the 2017 coaching staff will be able to coach the Warriors next year. "Hopefully the gymnastics program at Fallbrook High School can continue," Schmid said. "Hopefully they can find a new coach to replace me and my assistant coach."