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Warrior gymnastics program rebuilding

Although Fallbrook High School’s gymnastics team lost an April 3 meet at Poway, the 208.5-159 loss was actually encouraging for the Fallbrook team.

“Our scores have certainly gone up,” said Fallbrook coach Debbie Mericle. “We are improving.”

This year the Warriors actually have a win during the season. On March 13 Fallbrook hosted Westview at Fallbrook High School, which was the Warriors’ first true home meet in five years. “Our equipment was not up to par. We were not able to have meets at home,” Mericle said.

In the early years of the “exile” from the high school, the Fallbrook Gymnastics Club allowed the Warriors to have home meets at the club facilities. When the school team was no longer able to use the club premises, the Warriors became the host team at the opponent’s school.

The 2006 team consisted of only eight girls but raised approximately $3,000 for new mats. The Fallbrook Union High School District funded a new floor, allowing the school to host meets in 2007.

At the March 13 meet Fallbrook defeated Westview by a 147.2-101.65 score. The school meet was actually a quad meet, with Poway defeating La Costa Canyon in that head-to-head competition.

In addition to winning the meet against Westview, Fallbrook also had the first-place all-around gymnast. Kayla Alonso, a junior, had a score of 31.00 to take the top position.

A true home gym with satisfactory equipment has been a benefit to the team. “My girls practice Monday through Friday from three to five on the equipment, which is really nice,” Mericle said.

The equipment renovation is far from complete. The mat replacement will continue. “We still need a ton more,” Mericle said.

The Warriors had five home meets scheduled, but three of those were moved to other locations which have better bars. The Warriors’ other meet at Fallbrook High School will take place May 1, when Bonita Vista’s team travels to Fallbrook, and the team’s fundraising emphasis this year will be to obtain new bars.

Despite the primitive bars at Fallbrook High School, sophomore Linda Duling has already obtained two scores of at least 9.0 on the bars. If she receives a third 9.0 during the season, she will qualify for the CIF meet May 18 at Westview.

Last year Duling was the only Warrior gymnast to compete at the CIF meet. Only three of Fallbrook’s eight gymnasts competed on the varsity level, not enough to earn a full score for the team. “We were just going to have fun and get the experience,” Mericle said.

Mericle herself gained experience as a gymnastics coach last year. Her previous experience consisted of two daughters in the sport, and she agreed to coach the team for lack of any other willing leaders. Mericle had previously been a day care provider and had also been a Girl Scout leader, so the paperwork portion of being a coach came easy to her. “The hands-on stuff is a little difficult,” she said.

Fortunately for Mericle and her gymnasts, a former student volunteered her services as an assistant coach and former high school gymnastics coach Shar Larsen also provided Mericle with tips. This year Mericle has a new assistant coach, Allison Abbott, who was Larsen’s predecessor as Fallbrook’s head coach.

Mericle herself was on the swim team at Norte Vista High School in Riverside, from which she graduated in 1982, and she also played volleyball as a freshman at Norte Vista. Mericle also twirled short flags for the high school drill team.

“We’re learning together and we’re having a great time,” Mericle said of her position as a gymnastics coach.

The margin of loss to Poway was due in part to Fallbrook’s lack of an optional gymnast. Up to ten gymnastics compete for a team, and one optional gymnast and the top five compulsory gymnasts are scored for each team. “If we had an optional gymnast we would be really close to Poway’s score,” Mericle said.

The 2007 squad consists of 21 members, 12 of whom compete on the varsity level. Mericle hopes that the additional participation doesn’t reduce the closeness the small team had last year. “We were very much a family,” Mericle said of her 2006 squad. “This year we’re doing the best we can do to keep that familyness.”

Only three of those 21 gymnasts are seniors.

When Duling competed at the CIF meet last year, six of the eight gymnasts joined Mericle for the trip to Granite Hills High School. When they discovered they had arrived four hours early, they returned to the van and saw a movie in a nearby theater before the second visit to the gym.

The growth of the gymnastics team is slowly eradicating the results of inexperience. “Each girl is progressing a few points each week, and that’s all we can ask for,” Mericle said.

“I think we’ve come a long way,” Mericle said. “I think I’ve come a long way.”

 

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