Competing against more than 1700 gymnasts from YMCAs all around the country at the YMCA National Championships in Savannah, GA, the Darien team achieved shining success, winning the Level 7 National Team title and seven individual All-Around (AA) titles.
The new format for the YMCA National meet added team competitions for Levels 6 and 7. Sofia DeStefano and Saskia Chermayeff led the Champion Level 7 team, winning the AA titles in the Child and Junior divisions with 37.6 and 37.225 respectively. DeStefano was also the champ on beam and placed third on vault and second on bars. Chermayeff swept the titles in the Junior division, winning all four events and the AA by more than half a point.
In the Child division, Nadia Borja topped the podium on bars and floor and placed second AA. Tori Ware was second on beam and fourth on bars and AA. Bella DeStefano took third on beam and fourth on vault.
In the Junior division, Holly McGoldrick placed fourth on beam and floor while in the Senior group Lana Schmidt was fourth on beam and fifth AA. Also contributing to the Level 7 team’s success were Leilani Nguyen, Paige Domenici and Kate Wolters.
The Champion Level team placed fourth overall and was led by Adnerys DeJesus, who was National champ on vault and bars in the Junior division and placed fourth AA. Kelsey Fedorko and Nikki Carlo qualified for the beam finals, placing fifth and sixth respectively. Fedorko also placed eighth in the floor final. Gianna Cardini had a strong showing on floor and vault to boost the team score.
The Level 6 team took second in the team competition, missing first by a few tenths of a point. Abigail Nevin paced the team, taking three titles in the Child division including the AA with 37.40 along with vault and floor and placing third on bars and sixth on beam. Sofia Iuteri was the beam champ with an impressive 9.65, placed second on vault, floor and AA and sixth on bars.
Also in the Child division, Emma Kelly was steady for second on beam, sixth on bars and fourth AA. Anna Moss swung to the bars title with 9.35, placed second on vault, sixth on floor and fifth AA. Melina Cardini vaulted to second and was third on floor.
In the Junior division, Megan Cutler scored fourth on vault and sixth AA while Lucy Collins was third on floor and seventh AA. Also contributing to the Level 6 team’s success were Nima Rahbar, Sommer Schmidt, Kerry McDermott, Emma Neaderland and Lily Fairleigh.
Competing in their first Nationals meet, the new Darien boys team rocked the podium. Ryland Herzog set the pace, taking the AA title in the Junior Level 4 Division 1 group with 37.900 as well as first on floor and high bar and second on rings and vault.
In the Senior age group, Egor Vasilyev took the pommel horse title with 10.20 and placed second AA. Nate Smith was king of the rings with 9.8 and placed second on floor and high bar. Jack McDermott was the vault champ and placed second on rings and parallel bars where Geno Segaline swung to first with 9.3. John Jordan scored third on floor, rings and high bar.
Stella Nehro soared to first on vault with 9.5, placed fourth on beam and AA and tied for the bars title with Tess Hennigan, who was also sixth on vault and AA and seventh on beam. Katie Primmer earned sixth on bars and seventh on floor while Alyana Garcia was fifth on both bars and floor.
Alex Kuras was the champ on beam and AA with 37.625 in the Junior division as well as second on vault, third on bars and fifth on floor. Isabella Koproski was second AA, third on bars and floor, fourth on beam and fifth on vault. Regan Famigletti flipped to first on floor with 9.425 and was third on beam and fourth AA.
Jordan Moss vaulted to second and was seventh on floor while Jahnavi Orr and Megan Hayes tied for seventh on beam. In the Senior group, Chloe Sernick swung to second on bars, took fourth on beam and AA and seventh on vault and floor.
Also contributing to the Level 3 team’s success were Katie Cutler, Alexandra Maniatty, Taylor Davies, Tatum Jaroch, Avery Hanson and Madeleine McGivney.
In the Level 4 Child division, Ellie Davies was steady for first on beam with 9.6 and placed fourth on vault and fifth AA. Ava Licata earned third on beam, floor and AA and fifth on vault and bars. Emily McKee made the podium in sixth AA while Lindy Mueller was fourth on beam and Sophie Root was seventh.
Tanner Generoso captured the beam and floor titles in the Junior group with 9.575 and 9.375 and was second AA and fifth on vault. Alexa Bell took third on beam, sixth on floor and fifth on bars and AA. In the Senior group Alex Decsi swung to fourth on bars.
Abby O’Brien paced the Level 5 team, winning beam and AA in the Junior group and taking sixth on vault and second on bars and floor. Sofia Imbrogno scored second on vault, fourth on bars and beam and fifth AA.
In the Child group, Anna Altier never wavered in winning beam, placed second on bars and AA and third on vault and floor. Julia Decsi earned third on bars, fourth AA and seventh on vault and floor. Anna Primmer vaulted to second and placed fifth on beam and AA. Also contributing to the Level 5 team’s success were Iris West, Ali Kolman and Melanie Vernal.
The team was coached by Vlad and Valentina Kovalenko, Erin Hunter, Yury Vasilyev, Dana Andrei, Robert Ciuculete, John Schwartz and Anatolie Vartosu.