Highlanders’ Louie Takes 33rd Place in Uneven Bars

Hazen High School had two individual competitors on Friday afternoon at the State 1A/2A/3A Individual Gymnastics competition at the Tacoma Dome Exhibition Hall.  Hazen’s Karlie Louie took part in three events and Ashley Selover competed in the floor exercise event where she scored a 7.5

While just a freshman, Louie showed great poise scoring a 7.25 on the Uneven Bars which was good for 33rd place overall. On the vault Louie posted her best score of the day with an 8.25 and on the balance beam she posted a 7.75.

Hazen Head Coach Kim Merlich and Assistant Coach Bri Schwartz lauded the young freshman’s performance at the State Championship meet.

“I thought she was very clean and she put in a new move on bars for state,” Hazen Head Coach Kim Merlich said. “She was also very solid on vault.”

Schawrtz said, “She was very consistent like she has for us all season.”

When a person competes at a State meet nerves are usually expected but Coach Merlich was not surprised by how well Louie handled the new environment.

“She really used her nerves as a positive,” Merlich said. “ This new experience found her to be very calm, yet very excited.”