TACOMA — It was looking like another year North Kitsap Vikings gymnastics would send the team to State. That is, until the Highline Pirates won the third-place seed at Districts.

“Highline just came out of the blue,” North Kitsap coach Kris Goodfellow said.

The Pirates finished the West Central District III meet Feb. 9 in third with a team score of 158.300. The Vikings finished with 157.850 points.

Though the Vikings had a solid performance for the majority of the meet, Goodfellow said the beam event did the Vikings in.

“Beam is a nemeses for us,” Goodfellow said.

Chloe Seferos, who finished the meet first in all-around, and D’Anne Davidson, who qualified for State in all events, fell on beam, Goodfellow said. They never fall, she added.

The Vikings and Pirates were so close in score that any misstep meant the difference between going to State as a team, or not. Enumclaw and Decatur finished first and second, respectively.

The last time the Vikings qualified for State as a team was 2010. Individuals have qualified since 2001; six Vikings qualified for State this year.

During the season, the Vikings placed first in the 2A/3A Olympic-Narrows Sub-District meet and handed the Bainbridge Spartans their first home loss since 2000.

North Kitsap freshman Chloe Seferos finished with the top score, 34.275, at Districts.

Kingston will send three of its gymnasts to State, including Megan Keller, who qualified for State in all events. Also competing are Lizzy Garcia and Megan Kelly.

North Kitsap senior D’Anne Davidson qualified for three events at the district championships. Her scores included a first-place finish on floor (9.050), outscoring  Lindbergh’s Markia Williams (9.000).

Joining Davidson at State will be Carah Brown, Jessica Dimof, Alison Pariera, Sarah Zimmerman and Seferos. Gymnasts from around the state travel to the Tacoma Dome for the state meet Feb. 15-16.