THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Odessa High School Athletics

The Odessa High boys’ gymnastics team comes into the Texas High School Gymnastics Championships with a lot of momentum, having scored the highest two-day total in program history to earn its spot. Now the Bronchos must replicate that effort on the biggest stage of the year. The state meet starts at 9 a.m. Friday for the boys’ teams at the Permian Fieldhouse with the compulsory round. The optional round for the boys also starts at 9 a.m. on Saturday. The Bronchos come into the state meet with the ninth-best regional qualifying score among the 12 teams competing. That will be a tough task for Odessa High to jump that many squads in the standings for a team state title. However, longtime coach Tony Gonzalez isn’t entirely focused on that. He knows how important that victory would be to his program, but knows that his team will give its best on both days of competition. Odessa High will be attending the state meet for a second year in a row with a full squad. Last year the Bronchos finished in 13th place and Gonzalez knows this year his team can better that mark. “We’re stronger in the fact that everybody has more difficulty than last year in their routines and they’re more consistent,” Gonzalez said. “They’ve shown me that they can respond. Some of the guys were in the team last year and having that is a big plus for us. They carry that experience.” Those with state experience include senior Kaleb Redwine who is within a point of the best individual regional horizontal bar score (19.000). Also heading back to the state meet is junior Nick Drakus. Instead of traveling to Fort Worth like the Bronchos had to last year for the state meet, having the Permian Fieldhouse less than five miles from Odessa High’s campus is an advantage, he said. “This is the meet that really counts for everything,” Drakus said. “Our district and region are one of the hardest in the state but I’m hoping for at least top five at state for our team.” Odessa High has been able to work on the equipment at the Permian Fieldhouse ever since it was set up for the Region III Championships three weeks ago. That’s allowed them to know certain characteristics about each discipline that the out-of-town teams may not realize as quickly. Odessa High senior Clayton King said that usually with big meets like this one, teams don’t usually get to touch the equipment until warm-ups. King is the other Odessa High competitor entering the state meet with regional scores strong enough to challenge for a state individual-event title. He’ll have the chance on floor and vault. “Floor and vault have been a huge deal to me but all-around and helping the team score really is my biggest thing right now,” King said. “We’re like a family and this is my last year. “We’ve been through a lot together as a team with injuries and people coming and going and all this crazy stuff.” Even with the improved scores on this year’s Bronchos team, they have an opportunity that Odessa High gymnastics might not see again for several years. For the first time since 2004, the state meet is being held in Odessa. Last time it was here, Gonzalez said he had a few individual qualifiers compete, but not his whole team. The regional meet also wasn’t held in Odessa 13 years ago. This time around with no nagging injuries on the team and plenty of experience inside the Permian Fieldhouse, it could spell some good luck for Odessa High. >> TWO FOR TWO: The Lady Bronchos lone competitor taking the stage of the state meet is junior Brittney Paredes. She’ll only be competing on floor as an individual qualifier and has spent day after day working on that discipline to make sure both of her state-meet routines can go as smoothly as possible. “We’ve been cleaning up,” Odessa High girls gymnastics coach Lisa Torrain said. “Floor is an amazing event for her to compete. She’s really good at it and it’s natural for her. She has a natural knack for drawing in the audience to perform for them.” After speaking with the judges at the regional meet, Torrain took their critiques and has put those to work to better Paredes’ pair of state routines. Torrain hopes because of Paredes’ presence, she can score at least a 9.700 both days. “I’ve been getting in a lot more numbers than usual,” Paredes said. Both girls’ competitions are slated to start at 2 p.m.

THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Odessa High School Athletics

ODESSA HOPES TO CONTINUE SOLID FORM AT STATE

ERIC BLUM

OA Online | 4/26/2017

PHOTO CREDIT: Jacob Ford