Fairbanks, Bobcats win 1st

By Dave Utnik

Published: December 3, 2008

As the music from her floor exercise routine ended Wednesday night, Alex Fairbanks turned toward her teammates and greeted them with a triumphant smile.
The Battlefield High School freshman had just completed the first all-around performance of her varsity gymnastics career and she was basking in a brief moment of satisfaction.
It had been six months since she’d put her body though this kind of physical stress — and that had been for her former club team — so Fairbanks allowed herself to revel in the accomplishment, not even realizing that she’d just helped the Bobcats clinch the first quad meet victory in the program’s five-year history.
“I was really excited because it’s my first year but I was a little nervous too because I haven’t done gymnastics in a few months,” she said. “I went for it and did all of my stuff. I can’t wait for the next four years. I’m really excited.”
Fairbanks had good reason to be proud of herself and the rest of her teammates. The Bobcats brought 15 gymnasts to Stonewall Jackson High School for the initial competition of the season and together they accumulated 134.6 points – the final 9.0 coming on Fairchild’s floor routine.
“That was like icing on the cake,” she said after the Bobcats surged past Loudoun Valley (132.45) on the final rotation.
With Battlefield’s most experienced performers — Mandy Brown, Erin Turner, Tandeece Mazloum and Katie Surface — bothered by early-season injuries, it was Fairbanks who led the perennial Cedar Run District bridesmaids to an unprecedented achievement by capturing the individual all-around title with a score of 33.8.
Battlefield qualified for the Group AAA state meet two seasons ago as Northwest Region runners-up, but it had never won a competition of any kind until last night.
“We’ve always been in the shadows,” Bobcats coach Chevonne White said. “I think they’ll be really excited.
“Everybody is worried about the first meet, especially the girls who haven’t done high school. But once they get out here they realize it’s not so bad.”
Turner placed second on her only two events — uneven bars and balance beam — while Brown took third place on bars for the Bobcats. Mazloum finished fifth on beam, sophomore Becca Saran earned a fourth-place score on floor exercise and tied Jasmine Zellars for fifth on vault.
On a night when only five gymnasts earned scores of 9.0 or higher, Osbourn Park freshman Catie Cantello took top honors on the uneven bars (8.85) and Stonewall Jackson’s Meghan Hammel was first on balance beam (9.3) and floor (9.2).
Osbourn Park, which competed without three top gymnasts, lost a quad meet for the first time since the 2005-06 season, and it was the Bobcats who finally emerged from the shadows to share a moment in the spotlight.
“We really put a lot into this,” Fairbanks said. “I think we did really good.”