Capping a stellar gymnastics season with Black Hills Gymnastics up in Lacey after her home club at Chehalis Thorbeckes shut down, Centralia High School sophomore Sadie Mecham won the USA Gymnastics Region 2 All-Around title in mid-April in her age division for level 7.
Mecham scored a 37.750 to finish first in her division against the best participants from Washington, Alaska, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, and Hawai’i.
“It felt amazing because last season I fought really hard but didn’t do as well,” Mecham said. “I trained extra hard and was able to do it with the support of my teammates, and it just was an awesome feeling.”
Mecham also took a gold medal in the beam with a score of 9.750, on floor with a score of 9.625, and in vault with a score of 9.550. She also finished fifth on bars with a score of 8.825 at the meet in Tacoma April 16.
This was after taking home plenty of firsts at the Washington State USA Gymnastics competition at her level last month.
She finished as all-around champion with a score of 37.950, and took first on beam and floor, third on bars and fourth on vault.
After fracturing her ankle right before the beginning of last season — and her original club at the Chehalis Thorbeckes shutting down in March of 2022, right before the state competition — set her back a bit, Mecham doubled down on her commitment to the sport.
She didn’t know whether she wanted to continue, or drive nearly an hour every day to the next closest club in Lacey to work with completely new teammates, but decided to give it a shot, and it’s paying dividends now.
"The struggles were really hard. It was really difficult,” Mecham said. “Something that kept me going was knowing I had the potential to succeed. I’ve been working all these years and didn’t want to quit. I wanted to pursue and finish what I started earlier.”
Mecham has been participating in competitive gymnastics since she was little. Balancing ballet and gymnastics as a kid, she wanted to commit fully to the sport when she was seven full-time, and her love for the sport has only grown since.
She trained at Thorbeckes Gymnastics in Chehalis for over eight years before transferring last spring, and spends over 20 hours a week training in Lacey while also maintaining strong grades in school.
“There’s no school teams and that’s really difficult,” Mecham said. “I’m the only girl from Lewis County that does competitive gymnastics at this level. I want to represent this county to my fullest potential. That’s definitely something that’s kept me going.”
Her hard work has paid off, with an all-around state title, regional title, and a strong performance on beam that put her in the top-100 in the nation at her level for that event.
And she’s not done yet.
Next year she’ll look to climb up another level and compete at nationals next year, competing for Black Hills Gymnastics, and for her hometown in Lewis County.
