Eight gymnasts from the Sumner School District – five Spartans and three Panthers – will compete this week in the Class 3A state meet in the Tacoma Dome.

Action gets under way at 1:15 p.m. Friday for the 3A contestants and the top 10 in each event will earn a return trip for Saturday’s finals.

The Bonney Lake and Sumner High athletes earned their state berths Saturday during district qualifying at Auburn Mountainview High School.

The top local competitors were Sumner High’s Rachel Heckroth and Bonney Lake’s Kelsi Potterf, each landing one of the district’s five all-around berths. Heckroth was second in the all-around with scores of 9.175 in the vault, 8.55 in the bars, 9.125 on the beam and 9.2 in the floor exercise. Potterf registered an 8.4 in the vault, 6.55 in the bars, 8.2 on the beam and 9.225 in the floor exercise.

A pair of Sumner gymnasts, Aja Ruswick and Lisbet Fernandez, qualified in all four events, while Hayley Markstrom earned a state trip in the vault and bars and Rachel O’Donnell made it in the bars.

Aside from Potterf, Bonney Lake will be represented at state by Sarah Skinner and Courtney Fisher. Skinner qualified in both the vault and bars, while Fisher made it on the beam.

Sumner High barely missed qualifying as a team, placing fourth in a field where only the top three earned team berths. Auburn Mountainview took the district title, followed by North Kitsap and Mount Rainier. The Rams grabbed the No. 3 spot with 151 team points, edging out the Spartans, who tallied 150.725.

Reach Kevin Hanson at khanson@courierherald.com or 360-802-8205.