For the Reporter’s next winter sports preview, we’ll stay inside the gym and focus on gymnastics. This sport consists of four different events, and one classification where athletes can compete in all four categories.

The floor event allows an athlete perform a tumbling and dance routine paired with music. The athlete is then judged based on their execution and form as well as staying in bounds through the duration of their routine.

For vault, the athlete runs down a runway and leaps off the springboard, pushing off of the vault to twist, turn or flip until landing. The judge scored the event based on the height and distance as well as their stability when they land on the mat.

With the balance beam, gymnasts focus on keeping their balance while doing turns, flips, and jumps while roughly four feet in the air. The judge scores the athlete by how stable they are on the beam, and the difficulty of the actions they do on the beam.

The uneven parallel bars have a lower bar set at 5.4 feet with the higher bar at 7.8 feet in the air. While on the bars, gymnasts receive points based on the quality of skill and level of complexity. They are also scored on their dismount and keeping a straight line throughout their routine. To be an all around competitor, gymnasts compete in all four events.

Two of the three Renton high schools represented at the state tournament last year. Lindbergh High School had two gymnasts compete and one athlete from Hazen High School made it to the tournament.

For Lindbergh, Nancy Ta placed among the top 75 in two events, tying for 68th in vault and 73rd on beam. Emi Hirano was the Eagles’ other athlete, who competed in all four events. She was tied for 78th on floor, tied for 75th in vault, tied for 73rd on bars and tied for 47th on the beam.

Morgan Shepherd is the lone gymnast who competed as an all-around for Hazen. She was just inside the top 70 in the floor exercise event at 69th. On the bars, she placed 57th and finished 28th on the beam. Her best event was the vault where she placed in seventh. In the all around competition, she finished in the 26th spot.

Hazen’s first competition this year is Dec. 8 hosting Lake Washington and Newport. Lindbergh’s first home meet isn’t until Jan. 5 when Renton and Hazen take on the Eagles at 7 p.m. The Renton Redhawks have their first four meets on the road before coming home Jan. 19 to host Issaquah, Woodinville and Sammamish.