High school gymnastics: Highland's Paige Yu qualifies in three events

HUDSON — Bree Vargo earned a high-five, Paige Yu added another gold medal to her collection and Lauren Eyssen hit the daily double. Medina County gymnasts again turned the Hudson District into their personal playground Saturday, earning 18 total berths for the state individual meet, along with team bids by Medina and Brunswick. Blue Devils sophomore Bree Vargo was the leader of the pack, advancing in the maximum five events, topped by fourth-place showings in the all-around and beam. She also was fifth on the uneven parallel bars and 12th on both the vault and floor exercise. After missing the entire 2022 postseason with a broken left ankle, Vargo had extra appreciation for her accomplishment. "I am proud of myself," she said humbly. "Making it to state was important to me. I just hope I keep improving and can be even better next week." Three-time state champion Yu claimed the district floor exercise title with a 9.7, edging county resident Tessa Brousek of Padua Franciscan by 0.1. She later finished fourth on the bars and seventh on the beam, but was forced to withdraw from the vault and all-around competition. Yu, who missed her junior season because of reconstructive left knee surgery, felt "a pop" in the same joint very late in her floor routine. She was warming up for the vault when an identical situation occurred but recovered in time to compete in the afternoon portion of the six-hour meet. "It continued to pop every time I landed the rest of the day, so it's nice to know I could pull this off with a hurt knee," said Yu, who will undergo an orthopedic exam today. "Not being in the all-around or vault was definitely not something that I expected. We'll see what the doctor says about competing at state." Eyssen again will go back-to-back at Hilliard Bradley, taking part in the team meet Friday and the individual competition Saturday. She excelled doing so last year as a freshman, leading the Blue Devils in four events before gaining two top-four showings by herself. The reigning Gazette MVP delivered an exceptional vault that scored a 9.675 and led the district meet until late in the day, finishing third, and was 11th in the all-around. "Today is the day when you either make it to state or you don't, so it's exciting," Eyssen said, quickly adding, "It's not easy and you do have a sense of relief after you're done." Vargo, Yu, Eyssen and Medina's Colleen Johnson and Macy Maxworthy will compete in multiple events at state, while Madison Lee, Maddy Todorovich and Kendall Perfect of the Bees qualified in one apiece. "I am very close with Lauren and I love her very much," Vargo said. "I'm happy that we'll be there together with our team." Highland senior Jenna Pennington is the first alternate on the bars after losing a tiebreaker to Painesville Riverside's Allison Urbas at 9.0. Medina freshman Hailey Hofmann is the second alternate on the vault. The county's total number of district qualifiers increased to 18 and its event count to 41 when Highland freshman Emma Myers was added to the field on the beam. She filled in for teammate Ally Gryskiewicz, who was unable to compete. Contact Brian Dulik at brisports@hotmail.com. Follow him @BrianDulik on Twitter.