This weekend, Permian and Odessa High gymnasts will get a chance to shine at the state level when they compete in this year’s state championship meet in College Station.
The meet will begin on Friday and conclude on Saturday at A&M Consolidated High School.
This year’s qualifiers from the area include the Permian boys gymnastics team and Odessa High’s Jesse Hernandez.
At the Region III Championships back on March 30, Permian came in second overall with a score of 308 while District 2-6A rivals San Angelo Central took the title with 313.600.
“I’m definitely excited for the team,” Permian head coach Christopher Soto said. “This is a building year for them. I’m glad that they actually qualified and hit over 295. I’m just excited to see if they can push their limits and improve their ranking as a team.”
Soto says he’s been grateful for what his guys have been able to do.
“They’ve been able to stick it out and make this happen,” Soto said. “What I’m excited about is that they were able to pull the whole team together even after we graduated a huge amount of seniors. They’re on to the state level now. At the beginning of the year, we weren’t doing as well but it’s been fun seeing them grow.”
This year, the Panthers have only one senior with Sincere Galindo, who placed fifth in the All-Around category with a score of 105.600.
“He’s been our main man and he’s been doing the leg work for us,” Soto said.
For Galindo, he’s eager to get going in his final high school gymnastics meet.
“We’re very excited,” Galindo said. “This past week, we’ve been working very hard. We’ve been trying to hit it hard before the big day.”
One of the things Galindo has been focusing on is the vault.
At regionals, he finished sixth overall in that category at 18.400, tied with Abilene Cooper’s Evan Banks and Abilene High’s Aaron Grow.
“It’s very hard,” Galindo said. “The mentality is very brutal to try and continuously repeat something over and over again. It can be not only physically challenging but also mentally challenging. Luckily, with my teammates, they help me push through that as we encourage each other throughout the year at practice.”
There were three seniors last year on Permian’s team and Galindo says he learned a lot from them.
“Last year, I was really paying attention to the past seniors and see what they were going to do and they finished it through to the very end,” Galindo said. “That really set the tone of how I was going to do it myself. I followed that and put my own little spin on it.”
Right behind Galindo is Talan Ramirez who finished sixth overall in the All-Around with 101.300.
“That was fun to watch him grow into his own,” Soto said of Ramirez. “It’s exciting to see what they can do at the state meet.”
Ramirez, who is only a sophomore, is also looking forward to this week’s championships.
“It’s going to be a really exciting week,” Ramirez said. “We’re just trying to work on the little things at practice and fix everything and get it as good as we can.”
One of the biggest areas of improvement for the Panthers this season has been their consistency.
“We’re getting up there and hitting the same numbers,” Soto said. “We’re just seeing if this group can push the limits to improve the team score and the team culture to make this last for future years.”
Like Galindo, Odessa High’s lone qualifier will be competing in his last high school state championships.
“My mind is going crazy,” Hernandez said. “There’s so much talent that’s going to be there. I’m just looking forward to putting on a show.”
Hernandez qualified as an individual at the regional championships, placing in the top 10 in the floor exercise and on the rings.
In the floor exercise, his score of 17.300 placed him ninth while his score of 17.500 on the rings also placed him ninth.
Hernandez has plenty of experience in competing at the state level as this will be his third consecutive trip to College Station.
“It’s head-rushing,” Hernandez said. “There’s so much adrenaline. Everywhere you look, there are so many skills being thrown. My confidence level is through the roof as well as my anxiety level. But being able to experience it a few years back was a challenge but now that I have that experience, I feel like I understand the environment more.”
While Hernandez is competing as an individual, he praised his teammates and coaches for helping him train for the state meet.
“My teammates and coaches have been with me since Day 1,” Hernandez said. “I’m thankful for being a part of this team.”
He’s earned the praise from Odessa High’s first-year head coach Angel Flores.
“I think one of the things that made Jesse stand out to me were his leadership skills,” Flores said. “He was able to place fear on the back burner. He was able to lead the rest of the team and help them move forward. He’s a well-rounded individual. Having that leadership skill made him stand out.”
