HILLIARD — Her winning moment was as cool as Kayla Kmiecik knew it would be.
In fact, it was priceless.
Kmiecik won the state all-around championship Saturday at Hilliard Darby High School, and added her third straight crown in the uneven parallel bars and another in floor exercise.
Nobody shouldered the pressure that Kmiecik faced after finishing runner-up in the all-around last year. The Magnificat senior from Avon was equal to the challenge.
Kmiecik scored 37.825 points in the all-around, edging teammate Kelly Nortz (37.625). Nortz, a freshman from Bay Village, defeated Kmiecik in all-around at sectionals and districts.
Senior Kelsey Reddy of Avon Lake, another Magnificat gymnast, earned all-state honors (top 10) with a fifth-place
all-around finish (36.65).
It was a special day for all three. But it was Kmiecik’s day in the sun.
“I’m just excited that it all came out to such a good ending,” said Kmiecik. “We just reinforced positive thinking all year, ‘If you know you can do it, then you can do it.’ It was a perfect ending to a perfect season.”
Kmiecik’s order of events was the same as last year: bars, beam, floor and vault. This time, it worked out in her favor.
Just like last year, she nailed her bar routine (9.475). But beam derailed Kmiecik’s all-around hopes last year when she couldn’t land her back handspring layout stepout.
Kmiecik nailed her beam routine this time, scoring 9.5.
“Beam, for everyone, is very hard to compete,” said Kmiecik, a 14-time All-Ohioan. “When you nail beam, it just gives you the upper hand.”
Kmiecik proceeded to win floor exercise (9.5) and placed third in vault (9.35).
But the title wasn’t a given. Kmiecik knew Nortz would be right on her tail, especially in vault. It was Nortz’s strong suit and Kmiecik’s “weakest event.”
Kmiecik led Nortz by only 0.35 of a point heading into vault, 28.475-28.125. Kmiecik nailed her layout Yurchenko for a 9.35. It was enough to offset Nortz’s winning vault (9.5), which was a handspring front tuck.
“I’ve been working very hard this past week. I’ve done maybe 30 vaults,” said Kmiecik. “As of last week, my vault was very weak. I knew that would be the key to the all-around title.”
Previously, Kmiecik vaulted a pike Yurchenko, which has a maximum value of 9.5. The layout Yurchenko is worth 9.7, and the extra degree of difficulty was the difference.
“Kayla just had a great meet,” said Magnificat coach Joe Gura. “Kayla is one of the most consistent gymnasts I’ve had. She competes exactly how she practices. She showed up today.”
Kmiecik is the eighth Magnificat gymnast to win a state all-around title since 1990.
“My coaches kept telling me, ‘Look like you own the meet. Have that look of confidence on your face. Smile. Enjoy the moment,’” said Kmiecik. “I think that really helped a ton.”
Kmiecik scored 37.8 for the same four events in Friday’s team competition. She helped Magnificat take Brecksville down to the wire before the Bees won their fifth straight title, 147.4-147.05.
“Kayla would have won individual on Friday. She had a great meet,” said Gura. “She had it all together.”
Nortz chalked up a second in bars (9.4), a fourth in floor (9.375) and a fifth in beam (9.35).
“I’m really looking forward to the next three years,” said Nortz. “I know I can come back next year. I have a whole year to get ready for it.”
Kmiecik and Nortz’s 1-2 finish in all-around is the fourth such accomplishment for Magnificat since 1990.
Reddy was also thrilled by the moment after missing last year’s state individual competition due to a staph infection. She added a second in vault (9.475), eighth in floor (9.2), 10th in bars (8.95) and 14th in beam (9.025).
“It definitely was awesome to be out there today,” said Reddy. “I got what I wanted. I used last year’s experience as a motivation. I put everything out there. I left it all on the mat.”
Olmsted Falls junior Annie Guido earned all-state honors in beam with a 10th-place score of 9.15. She placed 20th in all-around (35.0). North Olmsted senior Stephanie Sutton also was all-state, finishing in a three-way tie for 10th in vault (9.0).
Contact Paul Heyse at phheyse@aol.com.

Individual competition

Top 10 — All-Ohio
(plus local)
All-around
1. Kayla Kmiecik (Magnificat/Avon resident), 37.825; 2. Kelly Nortz (Magnificat/Bay Village resident), 37.625; 3. Andrea Kinzer (Brecksville), 37.15; 4. Bethany Neczypor (North Royalton), 37.025; 5. Kelsey Reddy (Magnificat/Avon Lake resident), 36.65; 6. Morgan Spellacy (Columbus St. Francis), 36.6; 7. Diana Moock (Brecksville), 36.225; 8. tie - Gracey Brown (Columbus St. Francis) and Kelsey Zimmerman (Beavercreek), 36.125; 10. Erin O’Donnell (Perry), 36.075; 20. Annie Guido (Olmsted Falls), 35.0
Vault
1. Nortz, 9.5; 2. Reddy, 9.475; 3. Kinzer, 9.4; 4. Kmiecik, 9.35; 5. Hailey Fairchild (Dublin Coffman), 9.225; 6. Christina Bean (Riverside), 9.2; 7. Leah Miko (Brecksville), 9.075; 8. Zimmerman, 9.05; 8. tie — Stephanie Sutton (North Olmsted), Alexandria Putich (Brecksville) and Katelyn Moore (Norwayne), 9.0; 29. Guido, 8.65
Uneven parallel bars
1. Kmiecik, 9.475; 2. Nortz, 9.4; 3. Moock, 9.35; 4. Neczypor, 9.1; 5. tie — Kinzer and Breanne Horrigan (Nordonia), 9.075; 7. Fairchild, 9.05; 8. tie — Brown and Elise Rohr (Fairfield), 8.975; 10. tie — Reddy and O’Donnell, 8.95
Balance beam
1. Spellacy, 9.55; 2. Kmiecik, 9.5; 3. Nicki Rymer (Medina), 9.475; 4. Neczypor, 9.425; 5. Nortz, 9.35; 6. Emily Mahnke (Brecksville), 9.3; 7. Kelsey Bletsch (Brecksville), 9.25; 8. Kinzer, 9.2; 9. tie — Guido and Putich, 9.15; 14. Reddy, 9.025
Floor exercise
1. Kmiecik, 9.5; 2. Kinzer, 9.475; 3. Neczypor, 9.4; 4. Nortz, 9.375; 5. Spellacy, 9.35; 6. tie — Mahnke and Moore, 9.2; 8. tie — Reddy and Brown, 9.2; 10. tie — Jennifer Bruce (Brunswick) and Bridget Razem (Cloverleaf), 9.175 

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