Women's Gymnastics Mac Moore, KSHSAA Covered

Olathe North's Margheim reaches Endgame, sets multiple state records as she sweeps gymnastics events

Eagles win state title as a team

OVERLAND PARK — Ella Margheim saved the best for last. 

The Olathe North senior gymnast wanted to end her high school career with a floor routine set to the climatic song from Marvel's "Avengers: Engame."

"I grew up watching the Avengers and I knew I've always wanted to have that floor routine saved for my last one," Margheim said. "It just means a lot to me."

With her team's red-and-blue uniforms, Margheim is partial to the idea of being compared to Spider-Man, one of the many superheroes she's enjoyed watching while growing up.

But Margheim could just as easily be compared to the Avengers' nemesis Thanos.

The Level 10 gymnast, which is the highest level in USA Gymnastics Junior Olympics Program, decided to compete in high school for the first time this year. With that decision, Margheim snapped the state title hopes of other gymnasts out of existence.

Margheim swept the KSHSAA State Gymnastics Championship meet Oct. 23 at Shawnee Mission West High School. She won the all-around title, setting the state record for the floor exercise at 9.800, balance beam at 9.825 and the all-around total points mark with 38.413.

"It feels pretty good," Margheim said, wiping away tears.

Olathe North senior Ella Margheim performs on the beam during the KSHSAA State Gymnastics Championship Oct. 23, 2021 at Shawnee Mission West High School in Overland Park.
 


Although Margheim dominated the regular season, rarely settling for second in even a single event, she still had a tough time getting herself prepared for the state meet.

"She was pretty emotional yesterday," Olathe gymnastics head coach Amanda Harrington said. "I was kind of worried about how today would go for her, but she came in with laser focus, probably the most focused she's ever been. So that was awesome to watch and I'm just extremely proud of her."

Margheim said that whenever she was by herself, with time to think about a moment that will likely be her last competitive gymnastics performance, she just fell apart.

"I started when I was seven, so this is all I've done my whole life," Margheim said. "It's going to be weird not having it anymore. It's definitely going to be a change, but I'm glad that I went out on a high."

Margheim originally made the switch from club to high school because she chose to pursue a college track and field career. With the club season going from October to May and conflicting with her track schedule, she decided to go with high school gymnastics. 

Now she's become just the fourth gymnast in Kansas history to win all five individual state medals in one state meet. The other three are Kapaun Mt. Carmel's Amy Priest in 1981, Derby's Lindsay Davis in 1999 and Lawrence's Abby Jones in 2006.

Her efforts led Olathe North to securing the team state championship as well, scoring 110.475 points. That mark eclipses the Eagles previous best mark of 109.150, set at the team's home meet on Sept. 29.

Margheim said winning the team title feels pretty good as well.

"We went in as a team and we're coming out as (state champions)," Margheim said. "It just feels really cool that we can share this together."
 
Olathe North gymnasts pose with the team's state title trophy Oct. 23, 2021 at Shawnee Mission West High School in Overland Park.
 


Five other Eagles walked away with individual medals, including two seniors who earned multiple pieces of hardware. Delaney Stanley took third in floor and fourth in vault while Paige Garza took fifth in both of those events. 

The Eagles look to have three returning state medalists next year as sophomore Lindsay Ray took third in the beam and Riley Jahner took fourth in bars. Sophomore Hannah Jensen rounded out the medal winners by earning fourth place for all-around with sixth-place finishes in vault and bars.

Olathe West took runner-up with 100.963 points. Junior Alexis Purdy earned second place in the all-around with 36.450 points. Purdy also took second in the bars and beam while finishing fourth in floor.

Harrington, who coaches all five Olathe teams and led each one to state this season, said the Owls do a really good job of raising each other up, especially with them having only three members on the team.

"They know if someone messes up, it goes down as the team score," Harrington said. "Purdy especially does an extremely good job of just pushing through and picking her teammates up when things do go wrong. She's just a great kid."
 
Olathe West junior Alexis Purdy walks off the mat after finishing her floor routine during the KSHSAA State Gymnastics Championship Oct. 23, 2021 at Shawnee Mission West High School in Overland Park.
 


Harrington said it meant a lot to see all five of her teams qualify for state, but it really made her proud to see all the Olathe gymnasts constantly encouraging each other in practice, during the season and at the state meet.

One moment where that particularly stood out was during Margheim's final floor routine. By the time the final sound of the French horn finished ringing out, a sea of Olathe gymnasts had gathered at the edge of the mats.

If Margheim was indeed Thanos, this would have been the start of an epic fight scene. Instead, the rest of her Avengers embraced Margheim just as the significance of the moment hit her again.

"It's really cool because we're all just like a big family," Margheim said. "When we practice, we're all together. When we compete, we all cheer for each other. It's just really nice how we all lift each other up.

Shawnee Mission Northwest won a tight battle for the final team trophy, scoring 100.813 points to take third place. Last year's state champion Lawrence Free State settled for fourth place with 100.750 points.

SM Northwest sophomore Kaia Givner took fifth in the all-around with 34.625 points. Givner earned her best mark in the vault with a third-place finish while also taking fifth in the bars. Senior Kadence Peel gave the Cougars another state medalist by taking fourth in beam.

Free State senior Chaney Finkeldei earned fifth in the beam. Finkeldei also won the unofficial headstand event held while the finals scores were being tabulated.

Olathe Northwest freshman Emmy Keller finished strong in her first experience at state. Keller took third in the all-around with second-place finishes in the vault and floor.

Shawnee Mission South senior Zakaiyah Gillom had the best finish for competitors performing as individuals without their team qualifying for state. Gillom took sixth in the all-around with sixth-place finishes in the beam and floor. Olathe East freshman Alaina Palmer and Olathe South junior Madelyn Fletes tied Gillom in floor to take sixth-place medals as well.
 
Shawnee Mission Northwest gymnasts embrace after taking third place as a team during the KSHSAA State Gymnastics Championship Oct. 23, 2021 at Shawnee Mission West High School in Overland Park.
 
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