THORNTON – The Niwot gymnastics team is still the reigning champion.

On Friday at Thornton High School, the Cougars posted an overall team score of 184.050 to claim their second straight team title.

“It was about us,” Niwot head coach Marisa Purcell said. “We didn’t didn’t worry about anything else but what we could do. We just focused on getting better and better and we hoped that our best would beat someone else’s best.”

Niwot is now tied for third all-time with eight team titles.

“This one was very different,” Niwot head coach Marisa Purcell said. “It was hard because that bar and that expectation was already there. It’s like, ‘Can you repeat, can you do it?’ But these girls just kept getting better and stronger and wanting more, and we just watched them.”

Roosevelt was second with a score of 180.675 and Palmer Ridge was third at 180.375.

Now tied for third all-time with eight team titles, the Cougars were led by Genevieve Saunders.The junior won the all-around title 

“Really, I just came in focusing on the team and working for the team and all of our seniors,” Saunders said. “When we all focus on the team, we do our best and hit our best scores. That’s really what we focused on and that’s what worked for us tonight.”