Junior year kicked Kristina Bendiksen’s athletic career into high gear.
In her first full season of high school diving she reached the state meet. Three months later, she was the only Shorecrest gymnast to compete at state.
More scrapbook moments could be on the way for Bendiksen, who recently returned to state in diving and is poised to do the same in gymnastics.
Bendiksen is believed to be the first Shorecrest gymnast to advance to the event finals. Only the top 10 individuals per event qualify for the second day of the state meet.
At last year’s Class 3A/2A competition Bendiksen placed seventh in balance beam, tied for 17th in floor exercise and tied for 30th in vault.
“She wants to get back to finals in beam and make it in floor too,” Shorecrest coach Bonnie Carr said. “Those are both realistic goals for her.”
By sprinkling a few new wrinkles into her routine, Carr expects Bendiksen will raise her floor scores.
“We’re going to upgrade her tumbling,” Carr said. “She always had beautiful dancing.”
As the team’s first state participant in four years and one of only two returning seniors on the Shorecrest roster, Bendiksen is shouldering more leadership duties.
“This is her second year as captain,” Carr said. “I depend on her a lot for team-building exercises, morale and team etiquette. She’s a natural leader and she’s very organized.”
The Scots also bring back all-around regional qualifiers Camille Charlier and Sarah Nguyen. Carr listed bars and beam as the pair’s premier events.
“We’re much stronger throughout the lineup. Last year was more of a rebuilding year. This year we’re looking for our veterans to step up and lead us,” Carr said.
“We lost only two girls. We have a lot of returners and we brought in some talented freshmen and sophomores.”
The new arrival projected to make the greatest impact is Megan Ferris. The freshman is an experienced club gymnast and competes in all four events.
Shorecrest will contend with Sehome for one team berth to regionals. The squads split two regular-season meetings last year.
“We’d like to get to (regionals) as a team,” Carr said. “If we work hard and stay focused we can do it.”
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