Brecksville-Broadview Heights won its 11th state gymnastics title – and eighth in a row – on March 4-5 at Hilliard Bradley High School.

Hudson and Rocky River Magnificat were second and third, respectively, not far behind the Bees.

Clay, meanwhile, finished 11th out of 12 teams but that was just fine with Clay junior Kylee Ault, a two-time state qualifier.

“Brecksville and Rocky River are gymnastics dynasties,” Ault said. “They have kids who already have college scholarships by the time they get to the state meet. A good goal for us would be to crack the top 10 next year.”

Ault, who placed 25th as an individual at last year's state meet, finished 14th at this year's event. She was pleased with her performance, but she was even more thrilled that her five teammates competed with her in Hilliard.

It marked the first time in school history that the Eagles had qualified to the state gymnastics meet as a team. Clay has only had gymnastics for three years.

“That was extremely exciting,” Ault said. “Just getting there, we knew we could do it but we had to have the best meet of our lives at districts. Getting down to state, it's a very cool feeling to represent your school.

“Only 12 teams from the state of Ohio get to go, and you compete against the best of the best. Everyone was yelling and everyone was having spirit, and that is really, really cool.”

Joining Ault at the state meet were Clay freshmen Jody Demeo, Amethyst Floyd, Erin Gyurke, Sydney McGath and Emilie Roman.

“They handled it really well,” Ault said. “Going in, I was wondering how they would handle the pressure and the nerves, but I think they really enjoyed it. They embraced the challenge and they liked the glimpse of what's to come.”

So did Clay coach Nick Distel. The second-year coach said his squad performed well, especially considering the talent it was up against.

“Obviously we knew going down there that our skills weren't going to be up to par with some of the other teams as far as difficulty,” he said. “We knew with the lack of experience and getting everybody's feet wet, the difficulty wasn't going to be up with the other teams. We're just trying to catch up with experience, and the girls did real well. I was proud of them.”

Distel said the Eagles will have to upgrade their skills in order to compete with the best gymnasts in the state. He added that Clay's freshmen showed exceptional poise while competing at their first state meet.

“They were unaffected by the big crowd,” the coach said. “They did a real nice job adjusting to the atmosphere. They definitely enjoyed themselves. Kylee went last year and we did the necessary things to upgrade her skills, so now I think the other girls have their feet wet and they see what they need to do to upgrade their skills as well.

“The high school really supported the girls, and that was nice to see. So did the community. These girls are really going to be tough next year. They're going to be a good group.”

The Eagles advanced to the state meet by winning the district title at Perrysburg. Ault made the necessary adjustments she needed to make in order to place higher at this year's state meet. She scored 34.600 points last year and was awarded 35.550 points this year.

“She upgraded her skills and she was a lot more competitive this year,” Distel said. “She improved in everything. On the floor and vault, she was right on par with those other girls who are in the gym 20-25 hours a week while she's playing three sports.”

All of the Clay gymnasts practice at Next Level Gymnastics near Rossford and at the Perrysburg YMCA.

“Most of the time we have separate practices but we get together every few weeks to train together,” Ault said. “We'll have a few times this spring and summer where we'll get together to stay together as a team.”

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