High school gymnastics: Brunswick's Jordyn Thomas sweeps again at sectionals

TALLMADGE — The incomparable Jordyn Thomas completed two clean sweeps and powered the Brunswick gymnastics team to a three-peat on Monday. Defending state champion Thomas won all five event titles at the Summit County Fairgrounds Sectional — becoming a four-time sectional all-around champ — and led the Blue Devils to their third consecutive team crown with a school-record 145.625 points. Thomas finished first in each event by at least one full point, giving her 15 individual sectional trophies and the maximum 20 district berths in her career. Fittingly, she was the final performer in the final event, delivering a knockout blow in the floor exercise. "When the big meets come, I go hard, no matter what," she said. "My goal today was to remain undefeated at sectionals (in the all-around) and to help our team win here for the third straight time. "That's the attitude everyone in Brunswick gymnastics has. We're hungry and we're going to go for it." Thomas also delivered a strong message to her competition after finishing second in the all-around at the Greater Cleveland Conference Meet on Jan. 27. She admitted that her ailing back is an ongoing concern but vowed not to let it affect her quest for more gold. "I really wanted to show everyone what I did at the GCC wasn't my full potential, even though I'm going to be fighting my back injury the rest of the way," Thomas said. "There are precautions that I can take at practice — and I have been — but I'm going to do whatever I can to be ready to compete." Thomas (37.975) topped Wooster's Rachel Furlong (36.525) in the all-around and beat Magnificat's Keiva Leneghan (9.55-9.45) on the floor. She finished ahead of Medina's Macy Maxworthy on the balance beam (9.525-9.425) and topped the Bees' Meghan Deighton on the uneven parallel bars (9.275-9.1). Brunswick had four of the top six on the vault with Thomas (9.625), runner-up Anna Taylor (9.475), fourth-place finisher Lexi Clark (9.125) and Lana Dakdouk in fifth (9.05). Taylor was a state qualifier as a freshman but missed all of last season after tearing her left Achilles and underwent left shoulder surgery over the summer. "I honestly can't believe I'm here again competing," Taylor said. "It was so hard to watch everyone compete last season and I had a lot of doubts if I would make it back. I couldn't have done it without the great support of my high school teammates and my wonderful coaches. "I can't wait to see what happens over the next few weeks as our team works to try and make it back to state." The Blue Devils finished second at the state meet and posted the second-highest sectional score this weekend in punching their ticket to districts. Brecksville was the only team to top them each time. A school-record six gymnasts advanced to the district meet with junior Clark claiming her first two berths. Junior Sophia Tomecko moved on in two events, while sophomore Lili Kotar, junior Lana Dakdouk and Taylor will participate in one apiece. "The goal is to just to get out of sectionals, but the girls really wanted to repeat as champions for the third year," Brunswick coach Jacqueline Krist said. "And to set another school scoring record at a major meet like this means so much more." Contact Brian Dulik at brisports@hotmail.com. Follow him @BrianDulik on Twitter. ResultsTeam standings (Top 4 advance to Mentor District): 1. Brunswick 145.625, 2. Medina 143.175, 3. Magnificat 141.125, 4. Wadsworth 136.125, 5. Olmsted Falls 133.35, 6. Wooster 133.225, 7. North Olmsted 131.825, 8. Avon Lake 131.6, 9. Avon 131.025, 10. Westlake 130.825, 11. Buckeye 129.8, 12. Triway 125.375, 13. Cloverleaf 123.175, 14. North Ridgeville 120.675, 15. Lakewood 107.625, 16. Rocky River 56.2, 17. Firelands 56.125, 18. Bay 33.3, 19. Waynedale 32.9, 20. Dalton 30.8, 21. St. Vincent-St. Mary 29.75, 22. Archbishop Hoban 29.1. All-around: 1. Jordyn Thomas (Brunswick) 37.975, 2. Rachael Furlong (Wooster) 36.525, 3. Keiva Leneghan (Magnificat) 36.125, 3. Emma Nolan (North Olmsted) 36.125, 5. Maddy Todorovich (Medina) 35.95, 6. Jensen Heppner (Wadsworth) 35.875, 7. Colleen Johnson (Medina) 35.6, 8. Addison Kasian (Medina) 35.25, 9. Meghan Deighton (Medina) 35.15. Vault: 1. Jordyn Thomas (Brunswick) 9.625, 2. Anna Taylor (Brunswick) 9.475, 3. Jensen Heppner (Wadsworth) 9.325, 4. Lexi Clark (Brunswick) 9.125, 5. Emma Nolan (North Olmsted) 9.05, 5. Lana Dakdouk (Brunswick) 9.05, 9. Colleen Johnson (Medina) 8.9. Uneven parallel bars: 1. Jordyn Thomas (Brunswick) 9.275, 2. Meghan Deighton (Medina) 9.1, 3. Addison Kasian (Medina) 9.05, 3. Lexi Clark (Brunswick) 9.05, 5. Maddy Todorovich (Medina) 9.025, 9. Sophia Tomecko (Brunswick) 8.8, 10. Jensen Heppner (Wadsworth) 8.775, 12. Sara Rak (Buckeye) 8.7, 12. Lili Kotar (Brunswick) 8.7. Balance beam: 1. Jordyn Thomas (Brunswick) 9.525, 2. Macy Maxworthy (Medina) 9.425, 3. Colleen Johnson (Medina) 9.325, 4. Emma Nolan (North Olmsted) 9.2, 5. Rachel Furlong (Wooster) 9.15, 6. Maddy Todorovich (Medina) 9.1, 8. Alyssa Talabac (Wadsworth) 9.0, 10. Jenna Sterk (Medina) 8.9. Floor exercise: 1. Jordyn Thomas (Brunswick) 9.55, 2. Keiva Leneghan (Magnificat) 9.45, 3. Sara Rak (Buckeye) 9.425, 4. Rachel Furlong (Wooster) 9.35, 4. Meghan Deighton (Medina) 9.3, 6. Addison Kasian (Medina) 9.25, 7. Jensen Heppner (Wadsworth) 9.2, 9. Maddy Todorovich (Medina) 9.15, 10. Anna Theis (Buckeye) 9.125, 11. Sophia Tomecko (Brunswick) 9.1.