The gymnastics team competed in the Valley District championship Friday, where some unfortunate circumstances marred what could have been a big moment for Harrisonburg. 

Harrisonburg was already shorthanded going into the event, as senior Michelle Segarra had been sick through the week and was unable to compete, and freshman Rachel Coffman had a JROTC event she was attending.

Things only got more chaotic when freshman Danica Doberstein who was set to compete in all four events, got hurt in the first event of the evening (uneven bars) and was unable to participate in any of the other three events.

Coach Michael King applauded Doberstein after the event for how she supported not just her teammate, but also all of her friends and fellow competitors.

“You know, at least Danica, who got injured, she’s a real teammate person. She could have easily said, “hey mom come get me, take me home,” but she wants to stay here and cheer everybody on, and she’s wonderful about that,” King said.

This left junior Lillian-Rae Colley as the last member left on the team, and even her night didn’t end the way she would have wanted, as she seemed to tweak her ankle during her floor routine, and it was clearly bothering her as she walked off.

After the meet ended, King expressed his sympathy for his team and acknowledged that this can be a very unpredictable sport at times.

“I definitely feel bad for them getting injured because they have worked and wanted to be here to do that. However, I know the sport, and that happens, And you just have to keep going.  But from their standpoint, you know, they’re disappointed because it’s probably their last meet. So they were looking forward to competing here today because it was sort of local, it was the district,” King said.

Harrisonburg then traveled all the way up to Stone Bridge High School to compete in the Region Championship in what was the final meet of the gymnastics seasons.

“With the regionals, it becomes the kids that are available to compete, which should be Michelle and Lilly. Danica will go because she’s a team person, and they’re going against stronger competition. So a lot of times when you’re in that situation you wind up going to basically have self-improvement. So it’ll be more of just trying to finish the year with either a better routine, better score, improve on something,” King said.