THORNTON – The Palmer Ridge gymnastics team fell a handful of points shy of a first-ever state championship in both 2020 and 2022.

After finishing runner-up twice in the past three years, the Bears left little doubt in seizing that elusive first title on Friday night by running away with the Class 4A team competition at Thornton High School. The Bears won three events to post a winning team score of 183.850.

“It’s awesome, so awesome,” Palmer Ridge head coach Kathy Clowes said. “It’s great because we have a lot of seniors, so this is a great way to end their year. These girls have worked so hard all season, and we’ve been chasing Elizabeth for several years, so it’s exciting to get the win.”

Palmer Ridge won the vault with a score of 46.150, the uneven bars with a score of 46.175 and the flour routine with a score of 47.075. In the only event they didn’t win, the Bears placed second on the balance beam with a score of 44.450. 

The Bears’ first-ever title snapped Elizabeth’s streak of championships at four in a row. 

Standley Lake finished as this year’s runner-up with a team score of 179.225. Evergreen was third with a score of 179.150, Niwot used a win in the vault (44.925) to post a 178.775 and take fourth, and Elizabeth finished in fifth with a combined 175.757.

Standley Lake’s Tessa Grudle won her second straight individual all-around championship after taking home the title as a junior last season.

“It’s all about the team,” Grudle said. “This year, we’ve got a lot of great girls and we have great bonds. We’ve fought through so many ups and downs. You never know what’s going to happen at state, so this one is great.”

Grudle placed first the individual uneven bars with a score of 9.55. She was runner-up in both in the vault (9.45) and beam (9.4), and finished fifth in the floor routine with a score of 9.475.

Along with the top eight finishers in each of Friday’s events, Grudle will look to take home some more hardware during Saturday’s individual finals starting at 1:30 p.m. at Thornton High School.

"I'm a little nervous," Grudle said. "Hopefully, I can fix some of the mistakes I made today."