Alpharetta gymnast Kelsey Kopec's biggest obstacle Friday night might have been nerves, and the Lassiter team's biggest might have been resisting overconfidence.
Both conquered those things and took home the individual all-around title and the team championship, respectively, at the all-classification state meet at Westminster.
Kopec conquered the nerves that often bite her when she's on the beam, and Lassiter staved off potential complacency after winning the previous week's qualifier remarkably by more than two points.
"After last weekend, we felt pumped and ready to go here, but state's a different day than the qualifier," Trojans coach Jessica Coleman said. "You can be excited [by winning the qualifier], but you have to remember you still have to stick to your routines at state."
Lassiter won the team championship with 109.3 points, beating runner-up Walton (109.05) and third-place Chattahoochee (108.375). The Trojans were led by Chesa Trevino, who won bars with a 9.575, was third on beam (9.4) and floor exercise (9.35) and fourth in the all-around (37.175). Nina Doughrity chipped in a second-place finish on bars (9.525) to lift the Trojans to their first championship, well above their fifth-place finish last year and sixth-place ending in 2008.
"Until they announced it, we had no idea we'd won," said Trevino, who was fifth in two events last year and top-four in three the year before. "The key was we all hit our [final event of] bars really well. That was really important."
Kopec, whose Alpharetta team missed qualifying among the top six squads for state by .075 points, was glad to complete individually what the Raiders couldn't as a team. With her trademark consistency, she scored 9.5 on bars (third), 9.75 on vault (third) and 9.5 on floor (second). Though not qualified to medal in beam, her 9.5 there boosted her to the winning score of 38.25, ahead of defending all-around champion Michelle Shealy of Providence Christian (38.225) and Bekah Bennetts of Sequoyah (37.625).
Kopec said the cheers of her Raiders teammates were vital, especially on beam, the event where she said nerves sometimes get her. A solid 9.5 there on that second of four exercises gave her propulsion.
"I stayed focused and had confidence in myself," she said, adding of competing without teammates, "It's hard without them beside you."
Alpharetta coach Michelle Drehoff was pleased for Kopec, whom she sensed could win state after she qualified second in the area all-around to Lassiter's Chesa Trevino, as well as second on bars, first on vault and eighth on floor.
"She hit all her events," Drehoff said. "She went for everything with gusto."
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