Darien YMCA Gymnasts start Championship Season on Top
The Darien YMCA Boys and Girls Gymnastics teams both competed in championship meets this past weekend. The boys were at the USAG Level 4 CT State Meet in Waterford while the girls dominated the YMCA CT Southern Leagues Championships at the Lakewood-Trumbull YMCA.
The boys team was paced by Egor Vasilyev, who won the pommel horse, rings and high bar titles for the 11 years and up age group, placed third on parallel bars (p-bars) and second on floor and All-Around(AA). Jack McDermott took third on floor and AA, second on pommel horse and p-bars and fourth on vault and high bar. In the 9-10 age group, Ryland Herzog was the floor champ with 10.3, as well as fifth on rings, seventh on p-bars and sixth on high bar. Nate Smith earned sixth on floor, vault, p-bars and rings, ninth and eighth on high bar.
Meanwhile in Trumbull, the Darien girls won the team championship in every division they entered and thirteen gymnasts won individual AA titles for their Level and age group.
The Level 6 team achieved a double sweep, winning the AA titles for every age group in addition to the team title by a margin of three points. In the 11-12 years group, Anna Moss topped the podium on beam, floor and AA with a huge 38.30 and was second on bars and vault. Abigail Nevin soared to first on vault with 9.6, placed third on bars, and second on beam, floor and AA. Megan Mitchell took third on vault and floor and fourth on beam and AA. Sommer Schmidt was fifth on bars and beam and fourth on floor.
In the 13s group, Lucy Collins placed first on vault, beam and AA with 37.30 as well as third on bars and fourth on floor. Emma Neaderland took second on vault, beam and floor and third AA. Megan Cutler vaulted to fifth and was sixth on beam.
Kerry McDermott dominated the 14-15 group, winning beam with 9.35, as well as floor and AA and taking third on vault. In the 16 and up group, Lily Fairleigh took the AA title along with vault, beam and bars with 9.4, the highest score of the session, and placed second on floor.
The Level 7 team also took first by a margin of three points. Saskia Chermayeff paced the team, taking the AA title with 37.45, placing second on bars, sixth on vault, third on floor and tying Sofia DeStefano for the beam title in the 10-12 group. Sofia soared to first on vault with 9.7, the highest score of the session, placed second AA and tied teammate Gabriela Pye for fifth on floor. Gabriela was also sixth on beam and tied Isabella DeStefano and sister Caterina Pye for fifth on vault. Isabella was also second on floor, fifth AA and tied Paige Domenici for seventh on beam. Caterina also earned fifth on bars and beam. Domenici also placed fourth on vault and seventh on bars, floor and AA.
Tori Ware swung to the bars title with 9.45, placed second on beam, seventh on vault and fourth AA. Leilani Nguyen vaulted to second and took third on beam while Kate Wolters was sixth on bars.
Holly McGoldrick vaulted to first in the 13s group with 9.4, took second on floor and AA and third on beam and bars. In the 14 and up group, Sofia Fea Ruiz was second on beam, fifth on floor and vault and fourth AA. Lana Schmidt flipped to third on floor and fifth on bars.
Gianna Cardini was the sole Level 9 competitor in the meet, winning all events and scoring a 9.3 for her impressive floor routine.
Competing at Level 3, the first place team’s youngest competitors were in the 6-7 age group where Kayla Koproski was the floor champ and second on all other events and AA. Tess Hennigan tied Koproski for second on beam and placed third on all other events and AA. Taylor Davies was rock steady to take first on beam with 9.45 and fourth on all other events and AA.
Emily Rizzi swept the top of the podium in the 8s group, scoring 9.5 or higher on all events and 38.40 AA, the highest AA score of all Levels. Olivia Davis took second on vault, bars and AA and third on beam and floor. Alyana Garcia earned fourth on vault, sixth on beam, fifth AA, tied for fourth on floor with Ava Telgheder and for fifth on bars with Lia Woodring. Telgheder was also third on vault, eighth on bars, fourth on beam and sixth AA. Woodring also earned sixth on floor, eighth AA, ninth on beam and tied Lenette Petrov for ninth on vault.
Molly Zengo took fifth on vault, beam and floor, sixth AA and tied for ninth on bars with Avery Hanson. Hanson was also seventh on vault. Elise Hole vaulted to seventh, was sixth on bars, eighth on beam and ninth AA. Lily Royce swung to seventh on bars and Hannah Reyna earned her meet high score on vault.
In the 9 Senior group, Regan Famigletti swung to fourth on bars, placed third on beam, fifth AA and sixth on floor and vault where she tied with Shayna Moeller. Moeller was also third on floor and sixth on beam and AA. Madeleine McGivney earned seventh on both bars and floor.
Isabella Koproski took four titles in the 10s group, winning vault, beam, floor and AA with 37.25 as well as fourth on bars. Jordan Moss was third on vault, sixth on floor and seventh AA. Jahnavi Orr placed third on beam and fifth on bars. Julia Holmes swung to sixth on bars and seventh on vault and beam . Megan Hayes earned her meet high score on vault.
Chloe Sernick tumbled to the top of the podium on floor in the 11s group and was second on vault, fourth on bars and third on beam and AA. In the 12-13 group, Theodora Tertiropoulos took third on bars, fifth on beam and sixth on vault and floor. Holly Prichard swung to second on bars and was fourth on floor.
The champion Level 4 team captured four out of five AA titles. In the 10s group, Ava Licata placed third on bars and was the champ on vault, floor, AA and beam where she and Sophia Geffner tied for the title with 9.5. Geffner was also second AA, third on floor, fourth on vault and fifth on bars. Penelope Arredondo took silver on vault, bars and floor and third on beam and AA. Annelise Enters earned fourth on bars and floor and fifth on vault and beam.
Alexa Bell took the bars and AA titles with 36.70 in the 11s group, placed second on vault and beam and fourth on floor. Bowen Burns was sixth on beam and floor while Alannah Morris earned her meet high score on vault.
Brianna Barrientos was the champ on vault and AA with 36.70 in the 12s group, as well as second on bars and floor and fourth on beam. Carly Cambareri swung to first on bars and placed fourth on floor, sixth on beam and fifth AA. Kira McCreesh vaulted to second while Alexandra Decsi was fifth on bars. Isabella Woodring equaled her meet high score on beam and floor.
Alison Enters won the beam, bars and AA titles in the 13-14 group and placed third on vault and floor. Amelia Kuhn was third on beam and fourth on vault and floor.
In the 8-9 group, Elsa Del Bene placed second on bars and floor and fourth AA. Ellie Davies never wavered in winning the beam title with 9.65 and placed fifth on bars, floor and AA. Sophie Root was second on beam, fourth on floor and fifth on vault while Emily McKee took third on floor.
The first place Level 5 squad was small but determined. Abby O’Brien paced the 10-11 group, taking second on bars and AA, third on floor and beam and fourth on vault. Anna Altier was steady for second on beam, third on vault and AA and fourth on bars and floor. Julia Decsi was the beam champ with 9.5, took second on vault and floor and fourth AA. Anna Primmer swung to third on bars and fifth on floor and AA. Ali Kolman took fifth on vault, bars and beam where Iris West earned her meet high score.
Sofia Imbrogno soared to the vault title in the 12s group, and placed third on bars and second on beam and AA. Melanie Vernal earned third on beam, fourth on floor and fifth AA in the 13 and up group. Tetyana Banaryk was injured while competing on floor and unable to continue.
The team will compete next at their home meet, the Emily Fedorko Challenge.
Photo Caption 1: Southern Leagues Sweep x 2: in on the team championship sweep, the Darien YMCA Level 6 squad also swept the AA titles for the level with Anna Moss, Lucy Collins, Kerry McDermott and Lily Fairleigh winning the age groups.
Photo Caption 2: Darien YMCA Level 3 gymnasts Emily Rizzi and Olivia Davis had lots to smile about at the Southern Leagues Championship. Emily topped the AA podium with 38.40, the highest AA score of all levels at the meet, while Olivia was just behind her in second AA.
Photo Caption 4: Egor Vasilyev scored 10.0 to win the rings title for his age group at the CT Level 4 State Championship meet.