Broomfield gymnastics has seen its fair share of success over the past few years, with two state championships and two runner-up trophies gracing its school’s halls. Senior Mia Ritchie has been at the heart of it all for the past three seasons.

Last month, Ritchie’s high school career came to a close when she placed eighth in the Class 5A state all-around competition, scoring a 36.625. She achieved the feat by tying for fourth on floor (9.550) and finishing eighth on bars (9.075), then worked her way up to third in the individual portion of the bars competition (9.175).

The BoCoPreps.com gymnast of the year likewise played a pivotal role in helping to vault the Eagles to a second-place team tie with Overland. She led the squad through all the tumult that came along with three head coaches in three years.

“Mia has always been a natural leader on our team,” current head coach Abby Anderson said. “She is one of those people who shows up to practice every day, ready to work and ready to support others. I’ve definitely noticed it grow with her being captain, both her junior and senior years. With her being captain, she’s become more of an outspoken leader. She is one that will pump up the team. She leads by example, as well. She’s one of the first ones in the gym, one of the last ones out. She’s always working and making sure her assignments are getting done.”

In the aftermath of a tough meet against Niwot, Ritchie stepped up to speak to her teammates, giving them the motivation they needed to finish the season out strong. Anderson attested that Ritchie’s encouragement, as well as her unbeatable work ethic, resulted in notable differences in the practices and meets that followed.At the heart of it all, Ritchie simply wanted to improve her own skills so her team could succeed, and that they did. The confidence she still instilled in herself permeated through the rest of the team.

“I definitely felt stronger with my routines on floor and bars,” Ritchie said. “I did end up scoring better on those events. I don’t really remember the exact scores that I got. I’m pretty sure I scored better last year, but I competed the exact same vault. It felt very similar. The scoring is always going to be a little different, just depending on the judges.”

Ritchie’s one setback presented itself during her beam routine, when she fell during her last skill, but that didn’t much matter in the end. She was thrilled with her performances leading up to that point in the state meet.

“Overall, I think I was a better gymnast this year, even though I didn’t perform as good as I could have on beam,” she said. “I think, overall, I just had more confidence and just tightened up a lot of my skills. I still think that I performed better.”