With their final performances at the 4A state meet a couple weeks ago on February 18 at the Tacoma Dome Exhibition Hall, two of the Kingco league’s top gymnasts ended their prep gymnastics careers.

Bothell’s Raynie Hultgren and Inglemoor’s Mina Tanaka may have worn different high school leotards when they competed, but outside of the gym, they’re best of friends, perform for the same club – Northwest Aerials – and cherished their time competing at the high school level.

TANAKA: LEADING BY EXAMPLE

Unlike her start in the sport, Viking senior Tanaka turned into a leader for her team in her phenomenal senior year.

She began at the age of three, following her older sisters into the gym at Northwest Aerials in Kirkland.

As she progressed through the ranks, it was evident that Tanaka’s ability was something special among her peers. She tied for fourth place in the state for all-around as a sophomore, a feat she matched this year with the same girl – Todd Beamer’s Sam West – and also made the Saturday finals in two events, the bars and beam.

Starting out on the beam, she suffered a nasty fall towards the end of her routine to place eighth, but she rebounded nicely later in the afternoon on the bars, scoring 9.125 to place fourth and earn a medal.

“I’ve gotten a lot better at bars this year, I’ve grown confidence in it, definitely,” said Tanaka, adding that at state was the only time all year she fell on the beam. “It was kind of a bummer, but I got over it.  I was moving onto bars, so I had to clear my mind.”

Inglemoor coach Matt Watson marveled at Tanaka’s ability to refocus, noting that she has had difficulty with the event in the past.

“She pushed herself, and you could see it with the bars event that she always struggles with – she nailed her bars routine,” Watson said. “It’s great to see how far she’s come.”

Tanaka, who may be feeling the burnout from a long and successful gymnastics career so far, said she is not looking to do gymnastics in college, but plans on staying with the sport she loves.

“I want to move on, but I was thinking about coaching,” said Tanaka, who, like Hultgren, is looking to pursue a career in nursing. “Coaching high school gym in the future would be really fun for me.”

Until that point, she has many fun memories to look back on, including her unbelievable career-best floor routine of 9.8 at the 4A Kingco Championships on Feb. 4, and three years of great times competing for the Vikings, a team she “really liked” this year with six seniors and many others from her club gym.

Watson, who coaches with Eastside Gymnastics Academy in Woodinville, said that Tanaka has been a leader by example for the younger Vikings on the other team, and set the bar high for the program’s future.

“Compared to how she was a sophomore, she came back and was such a big leader,” he said. “A lot of times she’d step in and help coach the other girls, and push them to do their best. She’s really inspirational.”

HULTGREN: VAULTING TO THE TOP

Bothell’s Hultgren, like many young gymnasts, got her start in the sport because her parents wanted a more controlled environment for acrobatics than the family home.

“My parents put me in gymnastics because I’d climb on the windowsill in the bedroom and do flips onto the bed,” recalled Hultgren, who started at the age of four and began competing for Northwest Aerials at age six.

While the coaches at many clubs discourage their athletes from participating at the high school level, Hultgren and Tanaka agreed that they their club was generally supportive.

“The (coaches) are all for me enjoying high school,” Hultgren said. “They’re really flexible and understanding.”

Given the green light, Hultgren made the most of her high school prep career. After making the state meet last year, the vault specialist shined this year, placing fourth during the Friday prelims at the state meet with a near-perfect 9.5, and ended up taking sixth in the finals with a 9.225, her highest individual finish in Tacoma.

“I think Saturday could have gone better with vault, but my body was hurting really bad,” she admitted.

But Hultgren is far from done in her gymnastics career. In fact, just last weekend she participated in the “Battle in Seattle” meet at the Washington State Convention Center.

The Bothell standout ended up winning the all-around and coming home with a special piece of hardware.

“It was (sponsored by) Harley-Davidson, and if you win all-around, they give you a leather jacket,” Hultgren beamed. “It went really well.”

While she does plan to continue her gym career in college while studying nursing, Hultgren said that the best memories from her time with the Cougar gymnastics team did not take place on the beam, vault, bars or floor.

“Staying at the hotels for state – we always have lots of fun, we decorate our coach’s room,” described Hultgren when asked about her most enjoyable high school gymnastics experience. “I got to know the girls on the (Bothell) team really well, it kinda makes it like a family inside school.”

Inglemoor’s Mina Tanaka (right) is all smiles after placing fourth in the bars event at the 4A state gymnastics meet. She is joined by other medalists, from left: Sam West (Todd Beamer, 3rd), Baylee Hamilton (Mount Rainier, 1st), and Victoria Moyer (Mead, 2nd).  Photo by Tim Watanabe, Bothell-Kenmore Reporter