High school gymnastics: Avon's Maddie Geiger made big leap last season, wants to keep improving

Maddie Geiger raised the bar last year, so to speak. She hopes to raise it even higher this season. The Avon junior qualified to the Division I state gymnastics meet, tying for 15th on the uneven parallel bars with a career-best score of 9.075 in her favorite event at Hilliard Darby High School. She missed earning All-Ohio (top 10) status by 0.1 of a point. It was the best finish by an Eagles gymnast at state since 2016. "It was really fun," said Geiger, a Level 8 gymnast. "Even if I hadn't done well, I was just happy to be there. It was just really fun. It was a goal (to make state). I really didn't think that I would be able to, but it was always a goal even if it wasn't achievable. "I think I did very well. It was probably one of my best routines of the season. I got my highest score in bars, which was very exciting." And to think, she didn't even make it out of sectionals as a freshman. "I felt more confident with my routine after making districts," Geiger said of last season. "I was hoping to make state. I felt pretty good warming up." Geiger tied for 15th at the Mentor district meet with an 8.95 to qualify for state. The top 17 placers from each event plus all-around made state. "I thought I had a chance but I wasn't quite sure," Geiger said. "I didn't know if it was good enough or not because I know other people had very good routines, too. Hitting all my handstands in my routine and having good form in all my skills was key. "I felt I did a pretty good routine and that I did the best that I could. I just had to wait and see if I made it." How did she feel when she found out she was a state qualifier? "I was super excited," she said. "I kept checking the website every few seconds to see if I made it. As soon as I found out I started texting my friends. Normally, there would have been an awards ceremony, but last year due to COVID-19 everyone just went home. It was about an hour wait (for the final results). They posted the results about the time I got back home. I felt like I had a chance, but I wasn't quite sure. I didn't know if it was good enough or not." Geiger finished seventh at the Summit County Fairgrounds sectional meet with an 8.95 to make it to districts. She was also in contention for a district all-around berth, just missing with a 19th-place finish. "She's getting more confident in herself," said Avon coach Chelsea Cahill, who is in her ninth season. "That's also come with being an upperclassman and having that experience at the state meet. She's more confident in her skills, she's working on some harder things and overall she seems to be enjoying the process. Sometimes it can be a bit stressful, but this year it seems like it's something more that she's happy to do. "Maddie's a perfectionist. She puts a lot of pressure on herself and has high expectations, but she's translating that pressure into productive practice and has settled into a better routine as far as her mentality." As a freshman, Geiger placed 15th on bars at the West Geauga sectional with an 8.575, just missing the top-12 cutoff for districts. She also tied for 20th in vault and was 23rd in all-around. "My goal this season is to also advance to districts in my other events and maybe even qualifying the team to districts," Geiger said. "My bar routine is the same as last year, but I'm just hoping to make it a bit better since it's the second year competing with it. Last year I added a pirouette on the low bar that I didn't do my freshman year. It depends on the person, but that's a tough skill for me. It was key, though. It added a few tenths to my score." Geiger got her competitive start in the sport at Great Lakes Gymnastics in fourth grade as a level 2, but had taken gymnastics classes starting in second grade. She switched to X-treme Gymnastics in Middleburg Heights in the seventh grade. Before Great Lakes, she did classes at Little Flippers in Avon Lake starting at age 6. "I think the meets are just really fun being with the team cheering everyone on," Geiger said. "There's that special sense of accomplishment after the meet is over, knowing that you did your very best you could and having fun doing what you like. I'm just very motivated. I want to do well. I have a lot of goals that I want to set for myself and I want to achieve them and do as much as I can before I graduate. I'm not planning to compete in gymnastics at college except maybe only at the club level." Cahill has seen all-around growth in Geiger and that has nothing to do with any event. "As a junior Maddie has really stepped up into a leadership role and that's every single day," Cahill said. "Maddie is such a hard worker. It's not just during the season, it's in the offseason. Every single day she's working hard. Even it's an off day she's giving it her all. The work ethic and drive alone is a good influence on the rest of her teammates." Contact Paul Heyse at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.