5A gymnastics: Broomfield claims first team title since 2012

THORNTON – For the first time since 2012, Broomfield gymnastics are the state champions.

With a final team tally of 184.70, the Eagles claimed the elusive 5A team title Thursday night at Thornton. It is the third gymnastics team championship in program history, the first coming in 1988. What made it extra special was the team was the runner-up in the season C championship earlier this year.

“I am so proud of them,” head coach Whitney Parzybok exclaimed. “Their heart, their determination, and their fight tonight was amazing. We weren’t perfect, we didn’t expect to be but they brought it home at the end and I am so beyond proud of them.”

The Eagles were consistent all night, never scoring lower than 44.725, which came on bars. Their other event scores were 46.90 on vault, 46.30 on beam, and 46.775 on floor.

After a truncated season C championship earlier this year, the feel was back in the gym with packed stands and full teams. With the raucous atmosphere, the Eagles capitalized on the momentum in the second half of the meet. After two events, they trailed Lakewood by an eighth of a point.

But with their powerful second half on floor and vault, the Eagles catapulted into the team title.

Individually, the Eagles were led by Kaya Duncan and Brenna Calvo, who placed sixth and seventh, respectively, in the all-around. But it was the strength of the team, who placed three gymnasts in the top-15 in three of the four events, including four on both vault and beam, that did the trick.

“It doesn’t even feel real yet,” Calvo explained. “We were nervous heading into vault because we knew we had to pull it out. I am so unbelievably proud of my team, we worked all season for this, we worked all off season for this and I’m so excited it came together.”

Finishing behind Broomfield  in the team scores were Lakewood with a 183.675, followed by Mountain Range with a 181.325.

“This was an amazing day for us,” Lakewood head coach Christine Kamin said. “I started coaching in 2019 and this is our first time competing as a team at the state meet in four to five years. Our goal at the start of the season was to just make the state meet, but then we came into the state meet in third, so our mindset was we had nothing to lose. We just focused on us and having our best meet of the season and that’s what we did today.”

Action from Thornton will continue tomorrow with the 4A all-around and team championships, while the individual titles will be earned on Saturday. Friday’s action begins at 3 p.m. while Saturday’s will be 1:30 p.m.