by: Jennifer Lomeli

Peyton Koneski, a gymnast at Lee County High School, started doing gymnastics when she was only four years old. 

“I think it was something I was put in for an activity to get my energy out as a kid and then I just fell in love with it and joined the team for the program I was doing it through,” Koneski said.

Rebekah Roberts, coach of the LCHS gymnastics team, has been coaching since she was 15-years-old. 

“My first coaching experience was when I started working at Lee County Gymnastics when I was 15 and well I was just doing some little kid classes and that was 13 years ago,” Roberts said.

Roberts first started to coach for the LCHS team when some girls she had coached at her local gym had convinced her to join for the LCHS gymnastics team after their old coached retired.

“I went to Lee Senior in high school and I was kind of like you know this is a cool way to coach gymnastics and be with the girls that I know and to also coach the team that I was on when I was in highschool,” Roberts said.

Their team is currently two competitions into their season, including a fourth place finish in their second meet of the season. 

“Our season started off better than I expected,” Roberts said.

Roberts expects it to continue to improve. One of their biggest goals as a team is to not have any falls these few last competitions. 

Just like Koneskis other teammates they have learned many lessons. 

“One of the most important lessons this journey has taught me would probably be, if you make a mistake it’s okay you just have to get back up and try again and try to improve those mistakes so you don’t repeat that mistake again and so you can get better,” Koneskis said.

Roberts goals for these gymnast is just to grow and become better. 

“My goal for these gymnasts is to become better gymnasts, to enjoy the sport and time together and to be well rounded people. To do well in school and meet people who encourage and care about each other,” Roberts said.

The Jackets will host a meet Saturday in Sanford. It is the first home meet for the team.