LZHS offers over 20 sports available to join, but until recently, no gymnastics team. A varsity team for girls’ gymnastics is now incorporated this school year thanks to student-athlete persistence.

Girls’ gymnastics will be instated as an official varsity winter sport for the 2017-2018 school year. The process to have the team be a part of the athletics program took around 5 years.

“There were some parents and athletes who expressed interest in having a club here at the high school, so we asked them to show some sort of data of interest, so they went around and were able to compile girls that were interested in coming out for gymnastics if we had a team.” Tom Reagan, assistant athletic director, said. “We then went around and talked to some gyms and ended up getting an offer from USGTC. This information was then brought to the school board, who approved it this summer.”

Members of the team will be practicing at the United States Gymnastics Training Center daily, according to Julia McDevitt, sophomore gymnast, with head coach Chelsia Seplowin and assistant coach Annette LaVine.

“Right now we will not be allowed to compete officially in our conference,” Reagan said. “There is a process for that, and when it was approved by the school board it was past that deadline to be approved as an official team in our conference.”

The team will still be competing in the conference tournament, but the girls cannot score this year, according to Reagan. The school has already started the process to become an official conference member for next year.

“I was very excited when I learned there was going to be a gymnastics team here at the high school because we have been working on it for a couple years now,” McDevitt said. “I would really like to represent my high school in a sport that I love to do.”