Big Sky High School - Sunrise Yearbook (Missoula, MT)

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GOOD LIFT-Working on lifting his legs, junior Brent Polinsky competes on the pom- mel horse in Kalispell. Polinsky scored points on the high bar at state and divisionals. RIGHT ANGLE-Junior David Rathbun at- tempts to hold position on the parallel bar at a Big Sky meet. Rathbun placed eighth at state in this competion. BALANCE - Flocky Bailey works for perfect balance in his routine on the rings at the divi- sional meet in Kalispell. WAITING GAME - Team members Flocky Bailey, Dave Flathbun, Brent Polinsky and Bill St. John wait for the next round of competi- tion to begin. BOYS' GYMNAS-HCS The Big Sky girls set the trend in 1980. Since then a team has always represented the school at the state gymnastics final. This year the boys took up the tradition by placing second in the Western Divisional before advancing to a fifth place finish in the state meet. Keith Kaster, the enegertic and muscular all-sport athlete led the team in spirit and in- spiration. but others scored valuable points to vault the team to second in the division. Kaster, who served as team captain, was the only returning medalist to the team. But that didn't stop other members of the squad from challenging throughout the year. The squad received a boost from junior Brent Polinski. who came on in 1985 as one of the division's top rated competitors in all- around. Others who added valuable points were: Brian Stipe, who finished an Eagle high of seventh in the state on the high bars: Dave Rathbun, who placed eighth in vault in state: transfer student, junior Rocky Bailey who gave the Eagles strength on the rings and was considered the most-improved com- petitor on the squad: and foreign exchange student Staffan Thorell from Stockholm. Sweden who gave the team a boost on the parallel bars and was voted most inspira- tional competitor. Earlier at the divisional meet in Kalispell, Kaster, Polinsky, Stipe and Rathbun led the team to the second place finish. Rathbun notched the best place in the tourney with a sixth-place all around mark. He got that score with a fourth on vault, fifth on floor ex- ercise, seventh on rings and eighth on parallel bars. The squad's performances were marked by team efforts. While no one was outstan- ding in the division, they placed high enough in enough categories to secure the high team standings. What's most important is that the boys finally finished high in team standings after several mediocre seasons. W 'rw E f I lg Y ' f ,f X ld l'1 ff--Wff -1' 'rrf W if r 'W '1 f '-is I nam

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GIRLS' GYMNASTICS The Big Sky girl gymnasts battled youth and inexperience this year. But - led by junior Alexa Frost - were competitive in every meet. However, the girls suffered a major disap- pointment with their fourth place finish at divisionals. That meant that they did not qualify to advance the complete team to state. They were only 5 hundredths of a point from the qualifying third place spot. The narrow defeat at divisionals put a damper on what was a promising season for a young - very young - squad. Rated as one of the top three teams during the first four years of the schools existence, the girls at first appeared to have a sub-par year. However, considering the squad's youth, the girls proved to be very competitive. The leading gymnast on the squad was Frost. And she will be retuming again next year to bolster the Eagles' hopes. Frost was the leading team scorer during the year and placed high in every meet the gymnasts com- peted in this year. Frost was considered one of the outstanding gymnasts in Montana in 1984-85, finishing as the fourth highest all- around competitor at the divisional meet. Two seniors also led the squad this year. Holly Cummings on vault and Cami Wordal on the uneven bars scored consistently in their events. The girls placed eighth at state with only a partial team. Since they did not place in the top three at divisionals, they were allowed on- ly to take those who placed high in individual competition at divisionals. Gymnasts who ad- vanced to state were: Frost, Wordal, Kristen Kirby and Hetty Thompson. At state Frost placed sixth on the balance beam and Wordal placed seventh on the uneven bars. Another sign of youth and of strength for the future was demonstrated by Kirby, who is only a freshman. Kirby was named the outstanding freshman for the year and con- sistently scored points in all competition for the girls. Even though she didn't place very high in state competition, the mere fact that she qualified with strong divisional perfor- mances points to future strength for the Big Sky girls. Kirby competed in the vault, beam and floor events. 4? 'EV SUSPENSION - Kristen Kirby, the team's top-scoring freshman, appears suspended in air as she makes a jump on the balance beam. Kirby was among the team's top scorers in most meets during the season. PERFECT FORM - Team leader Alexa Frost concentrates on her floor routine. Frost led Big Sky in points and was an all-around finalist in most of the competition Big Sky entered. She was among the leaders in the all around competition at the Western Divisional. EXPRESSION - Sophomore Jamie Fieilly works hard for expression in her floor routine as a judge marks notes on Reilly's performance. The meet took place at Big Sky earlier in the season. W - 4, ,,, .ww. W.M,1ywp,f:,w,-.4.a.Hf - f Vw- W-.W f--ff' . 100