Gymnastics
lead by example, but also provide mentorship for the new members of the team.
Both were part of last year’s squad that finished eighth at the Class 4A state meet. Despite there being only two returners, Toomey’s new recruits actually give the team more gymnasts than it had a year ago.
“It’s definitely a different environment,” Pritchard said. “There’s a lot more people on the team this year. It’s still close, as the previous teams, but it’s a different adjustment. There’s more age width with different levels and different grades. But it’s still a close team.”
Toomey holds her two returners in high regard. Not only are they the most experienced on the team, but they are also the oldest.
She is looking forward to seeing what both can accomplish this season, not only as gymnasts, but leaders of the young team.
“Payten, I think this is her third season on the team and she’s grown a lot in the last couple of years and her confidence level is really high,” Toomey said. “She’s kind of developed as a really good leader for the team. She probably won’t tell you that, though. But it’s definitely coming out for her, and you can see her kind of stepping into that role. Emi is one of the brightest, best attituded kids that I have ever coached. She’s really positive. She cheers on her teammates. She works really hard. She is one of the hardest working kids we have. So, I expect to see a lot of growth out of her this year.”
That leadership role is something both returners are accepting and share Toomey’s excitement about. Not only do they get to teach and mentor their new teammates, but also give them someone to look up to, just as they did with Rechkemmer when she led the team last year.
“I think that in some ways, it’s really great to have a lot of returning girls,” Dean said, “but I really like this opportunity to see a lot of new freshmen girls and a lot of new girls coming in and see what they can be for this team in the future and be able to kind of mentor them in a way as like the spirit we have as a team and the way that we like to be as a team and behave as a team. So, I think that’s really exciting.”
There won’t be many lofty goals for the team this season. Both of the returners have simple ones for themselves, which include their own improvement and watching the growth and development of the younger gymnasts.
In a way, this season could be looked at as a rebirth of the program. A contributing factor for last year’s team being so small was that Roosevelt, which fed athletes into the Loveland program, got its own team.
“This season is all about re-establishing (ourselves) I think,” Toomey said. “We’re not going to have any huge, major goals right out the gate. I think that originally, it’s going to be skill development, understanding where each of the kids are. Like I said, most of the team is not currently enrolled in gymnastics. They’re all coming back to it. Some of them haven’t really ever done it before or they’ve had several years off. So, it’s just kind of re-establishing what that looks like and then kind of just giving them the courage and the excitement to grow and then go from there. Ask me in a couple of weeks what our goals are and we might have a different answer, but right now it’s really just, ‘Let’s figure it out’.”