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Photo by John Wagner

Photo by John Wagner

Photo by John Wagner

FAIRBANKS — Zoe Wildfeuer dominated the all-around competition — but a team effort is what secured West Valley’s fourth straight Region VI Gymnastics Championships on Saturday.

“We’re very close and very good at cheering each other up and keeping our hopes up,” Wildfeuer said. “I think that’s part of the reason we won.”

The Wolfpack put five gymnasts among the top seven in the all-around to cap an undefeated season with 170.575 points. Lathrop placed second with 147.6 points and North Pole was third with 77.2 in the all-day event at West Valley.

“Everybody just pulled together today and did what they needed to do,” first-year West Valley coach Janelle Johnson said.

Wildfeuer, a sophomore who was runner-up at the 2008 regionals, won the uneven bars, beam and floor competitions and was a close second in the vault to teammate Emily East.

“I just had a really ‘on’ meet so it just went smoothly and I stayed concentrated,” said Wildfeuer, who does gymnastics more than 20 hours per week with West Valley and her club team.

Wildfeuer’s high-energy routine in the bars, her favorite event, capped the competition.

“It’s just really fun to swing from bar to bar,” Wildfeuer said. “... My main goal was to just to stay tight and make it through without falling.”

Wildfeuer scored 33.40 points in the all-around to convincingly top runner-up Karlie Ellingson of Lathrop, who tallied 31.85.

West Valley’s Alex Biden (third), East (fourth), Sydney Chaves (fifth) and Jaime Kennedy (seventh) also excelled, as did Louise Bishop (tied for third in the vault and fourth on beam).

Cassie Ringstad, an expected contender from Monroe Catholic, was unable to compete because she fell and hurt her neck practicing bars this past week. Ringstad, a junior who trains with Lathrop’s team because she’s the only representative from Monroe, helped organize Saturday’s competition. She said the injury is not serious, but the timing of it was unfortunate.

“I was really sad that she couldn’t compete because she just (got hurt) on Monday,” Wildfeuer said.

Ringstad will have another chance at regionals next year, but the competition was the last for Ellingson, a senior.

“I’ve dedicated a lot of years to it, and so it’s exciting to get second,” said Ellingson, who has been involved with club gymnastics for the past eight years but does not plan to continue with the sport.

Regionals marked the end of the prep season because there is no state championship meet.

“It’s really disappointing because I think we could go and be competitive,” Johnson said.