Alexis Moore likely will be one tired lass after this whirlwind weekend.

By day, the Auburn senior gymnast will be competing at the South Puget Sound League sub-district meet in Des Moines today and Saturday, looking to move a step closer to the state 4A showcase.

By night, Moore will be vying for the crown at the Miss Auburn Scholarship Pageant, a two-day event that includes a talent program Friday and concludes with the finals Saturday.

“That’s going to be really hard for me. It’s going to be a real time crunch,” she said. “I don’t know what I’m going to do.”

Regardless of how she does in the pageant, Moore can rest easy knowing she has already accomplished more in the gym than most girls.

For eight years, Moore competed at the club level for Evergreen Rhythmics in Seattle. Although she also dabbled in artistic gymnastics – the style performed by high school varsity teams – Moore focused on her rhythmic career, obtaining a Level 10 ranking and capturing state championships in 2005, 2007 and 2008.

Last year, Moore decided to focus on the artistic form only, a move eased by the similarities, as well as her childhood experience with the sport.

“This (artistic) is more acrobatic, rhythmic is more focused on dancing and elegance,” Moore explained. “It’s only done on a spring floor. You use an apparatus (ribbons, balls, clubs and rope) and it’s focused on dexterity and the ability to handle the apparatus. With rhythmic, it’s a sport but it’s more focused on the performance than having a lot of acrobatics in it.”

The biggest obstacle, she said, was building strength to pull off the acrobatics.

Last year, the switch paid off for Moore, who qualified for the state meet. Moore finished tied for 29th on the beam with a score of 8.35 and was tied for 27th on the floor with a 9.275.

This year she hopes to do even better, provided she can balance the Miss Auburn pageant with the postseason meets.

“I didn’t think I’d be better than I was last year. I thought I’d be less flexible and it would be harder,” Moore admitted. “But I’ve been working hard still … so I think I’m better and stronger.”

Regardless of how she finishes, Moore said working with this year’s varsity squad has been a pleasure.

“Everybody on the team supports each other,” she said. “We are really close and everybody encourages everybody else. I think that’s been really good these last two years.”

Moore has helped mentor the younger gymnasts.

“She’s very inspirational for the girls,” said coach Kristie Wilson. “She’s competitive, driven, highly respected in the gym. It’s a huge bonus to have her here. She teaches them how to grow up and (carry) responsibility (with) the team. Girls come in here individually and they don’t have an idea of this (being) a team sport. And she teaches them.”

The key has been treating everybody equally on the team, Moore said.

“I don’t want anyone to think that they’re not as good as someone else because they can do more skills then them,” Moore said. “It’s all about getting better. I’m always trying to get better, too. I just want them all to know that we’re all on the same level and trying to get better together.

“We’re working toward the same goal. We want to try and get a higher team score.”