Rebecca Turnbow knew it might come down to this.
At the beginning of the season the Auburn Riverside gymnast knew that she, along with fellow gymnastics and cheer squad teammate Kylee Smith, might have a conflict between competing with the Raven gymnastics squad at the district and state meets and traveling to national competitions for their high school and club cheer squads.
“It really was a hard decision,” said Turnbow, who finished fifth in the all-around at last year’s 4A state meet. “I just took it step by step because you have to qualify for the cheer meets.”
Although both Turnbow and Smith will compete at this weekend’s South Puget Sound League sub-district meet at Kentwood High School, neither will take to the floor for the district or state meets.
“We’ll be in Florida for the High School Nationals during districts and in Texas for the nationals with the South Elite All-Stars during state,” Turnbow said.
“It was a hard decision to make,” she added. “I didn’t want to bring the team down, so I worked hard all season. But it’s going to be hard knowing they may be competing at districts and state without me. I hope they do the best they can.”
Turnbow said she made the decision to travel to the cheer competitions because she plans to cheer collegiately after graduation from Auburn Riverside.
“I’m not sure where I’m going, but it’s looking like maybe San Diego State University,” she said. “But I haven’t made up my mind yet.”
Although replacing two of their top gymnasts is tough, especially as the competition steps up in the postseason, Raven coach Cathy Robinson said she hopes her team will be up to the task.
“We’re actually pretty deep,” she said. “The girls have been working pretty hard.”
So far this season the Ravens have made short work of the competition in the SPSL Central 4A division, winning five of their six meets and finishing second in their sixth meet.
The team comes into the sub-district meet riding high from a 166 team score at the Auburn all-city meet, where they put away Auburn and Auburn Mountainview.
Although the team will have the services of Smith and Turnbow for the sub-district meet, to move on to state the team will rely on its depth, including gymnasts such as Danielle Paris, who returned to high school competition this season after concentrating on club gymnastics with Auburn Gymnastics Center and recovering from a knee injury.
Also in the rotation will be sophomores Danielle Robinson and Payton Grey, as well as freshman Kylie Urban.
The team will also look to Lena Tu and Anna Marshall for strong performances on the beam.
“They’ll definitely be missed,” Robinson said of Turnbow and Smith. “But we knew it was a possibility. It’s hard on the girls and the team, but it’s under control.”
The SPSL sub-district meet begins today at Kentwood High School and continues tomorrow, Saturday.
