Hopewell junior gymnast Kelly Burak admits with a laugh that many don't even realize gymnastics is a WPIAL sport.
For most of the general public, gymnastics is only on the radar every four years, when teams from around the globe converge for the Olympics. At the local level, just nine full teams compete in the WPIAL, along with solo performers from other schools.
"There's not as many people, so you know all the girls that you usually compete against," Burak said. "You get to know them. It kind of makes the competition better."
And familiarity will remain the theme Saturday at Moon Middle School for the WPIAL individual championships.
Burak, one of the area's brightest young talents, again is among the favorites, as she seeks her third consecutive all-around title in the advanced division.
A year ago, Burak, a Level 10 competitor at USA Gymnastics meets, finished first in the vault, bars and floor exercise to top a crowded pack of contenders. Her career has expanded since, competing last month in her first international event, the Cancun Classic in Mexico, where she placed fifth overall in her class.
"It was a good experience competing against people from different countries," she said. "I wasn't really knowing what to expect because my coaches said there'd be people from Canada and Japan, and I thought I had no chance."
Back home, Burak is feeling similar nerves in her attempt to maintain the WPIAL's top spot.
"It puts a lot of pressure on me," she said. "It's really important, and I'm trying to keep my title. A lot of people ask, 'Are you going to win WPIALs again?' "
If that same question is posed to the North Allegheny gymnastics team, the answer is normally "yes." Just as Burak has been a constant in the all-around competition the past two years, the Tigers have been the WPIAL's most impressive team in the same span -- and in most other years.
North Allegheny, which returns four of the top 11 finishers from last year's WPIAL meet, is going for its third straight team title and 20th overall. Key to the Tigers' perennial success is a universal dedication to club competition outside of the high school gym.
"We have a different sense of knowing what it takes to do well in the (USA Gymnastics) world," said senior Tori Bianco, who finished second in the WPIAL a year ago. "But at the same time, all of these other teams are capable of beating us because they all work out really hard."
That includes Moon, which edged North Allegheny by 1.850 points in a Dec. 22 meet. Pine-Richland, first-year Tigers coach Ashley Corona said, also should challenge for the team title.
"We don't let them walk into that meet expecting to win," said Corona, who was a North Allegheny assistant for two years before replacing Mark Paliotta in the offseason. "Because the second they do that, they will lose."
Focus shouldn't be a problem for Bianco, who took second in the bars a year ago but wants far more in her final WPIAL competition.
"It's hard because you don't want to take (the individual title) away from someone else, but you want to do your best for yourself. And more than the individual title, I want to go out and perform for my team," she said. "This WPIAL meet is important to the team and me and the seniors, especially, because we want to finish our high school gymnastics careers on top."
