The 2025-26 North Thurston School District (NTPS) combined gymnastics team recently competed in a meet in Olympia at Ascend Gymnastics Friday, December 12, 2025, where they competed with teams from Olympia High School (163.45) and Sumner High School (166.65). The NTPS team, which has 20 athletes from North Thurston High School, Timberline High School and River Ridge High School, placed third (142.9).
North Thurston School District’s combined team has sent athletes to the WIAA state championship the past few years, but is focusing on rebuilding skills this season. The motto for North Thurston gymnastics is, “Progress, not perfection…Get a little bit better every day.” The girls from North Thurston School District’s joint gymnastics team are striving to grow and improve as the team enters the 2025-26 WIAA winter sports gymnastics season.
This year’s team has 13 new gymnasts and seven returning. The team practices in Lacey at Black Hills Gymnastics and athletes compete in four categories of gymnastics, including floor routine, vault, balance beam and bars. Entering her 19th year, Coach Shannon Brigham leads the team with two new assistant coaches, who are former NTPS gymnasts, Bella Burton and Jordan Segura-Mitchell.
Coach Brigham likes the energy of her team and mentioned that the team is young with many who have never competed in gymnastics meets. “We are starting with the basics and working our way up,” Brigham noted, “and each night at practice, we are witnessing the girls getting new skills and working hard on improving their start values. They are very encouraging towards one another and our seniors help lead the younger teammates and guide the new teammates along the way.”
North Thurston senior Ari Galarza noted how fantastic it is to be on a unified team in the district. “It is just great to be able to meet other girls from the different schools in our district and then to be able to compete together with them in the sport we all love,” Galarza remarked. “I’m in my senior year and this has just been a really fun experience for me. I scored a nine twice in my career and that was a highlight for me, but it is exciting that this year I get to have a bit more of a leadership role and it’s fun to see how everyone will get better and grow.”
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