Darien YMCA Adds to Summer of Gymnastics Stars
Gymnasts are the stars in a Summer Olympics year and the members of the Darien YMCA gymnastics team were shining brightly at the 2016 YMCA National Championship meet in Long Beach, CA. The Champions Level gymnasts captured second place in the team competition and Adnerys DeJesus was the All Around (AA) champion in the Junior age group. Nadia Borja, Saskia Chermayeff, Ava Licata and Tanner Generoso also won AA titles for their session, age group and level.
The Champions Division at YMCA Nationals includes both Level 9 and 10 gymnasts competing for AA titles and is the only level with a team competition. DeJesus led Darien’s four-gymnast squad, in addition to winning the Junior division AA title with a two-day total of 75.650 she also won the vault and floor titles, placed second on beam and fifth on bars. Kelsey Fedorko took tenth AA, fifth on vault and eighth on floor. In the Senior division, Jessica Freiheit earned sixth AA and eighth on bars and floor. Nikki Carlo had an outstanding first day of competition, including a 9.125 on beam, but was injured during warm ups the second day and was unable to continue.
Level 8 gymnasts also competed in a qualifying session plus a finals session for the top 25 gymnasts in each age division. Gianna Cardini qualified for the finals in the Junior division and in the preliminary round she won the vault title with 9.4 and placed sixth on bars and AA. In the Senior Division qualifying session, Kellie Arevalo was third on vault, sixth on beam, fifth on floor and tenth AA.
Jane Ogden and Lana Schmidt represented Darien at Level 7; Ogden was the beam champ with 9.4 and placed seventh on floor and fifth AA in the Senior division while Schmidt took seventh on vault in the Junior division.
Tori Ware led the Level 6 squad, winning the beam title with an impressive 9.75 and placing fourth on bars and third AA in the Child division. Holly McGoldrick took fifth on bars while Christina Pizzani placed third on beam. Paige Domenici earned her meet high score on vault while Kate Wolters and Sommer Schmidt’s top scores were on beam. In the Junior division, Lindsay Hall took seventh on beam and Lizzie Canneli earned her best score on vault. Kerry McDermott was the bars champ with 9.125 in the Senior division and Lily Fairleigh placed fifth.
Darien’s large Level 5 team dominated the podium for their session. Nadia Borja captured the Child division vault and AA titles with 9.525 and 37.10, and placed second on bars, beam and floor where she tied with teammate Isabella DeStefano. Isabella was also third on vault and fourth AA. Sister Sofia DeStefano topped the podium on beam and floor with 9.375 and 9.275, placed third on bars and second on vault and AA. Sofia Iuteri took fourth on vault, third on beam and sixth AA. Caterina Pye earned fifth on vault and sixth on floor. Anna Moss and Emma Kelly were steady for fourth and sixth on beam. Melina Cardini achieved her meet high score on vault while Nima Rahbar’s top score was on bars.
Abigail O’Brien led the small but successful Darien Level 4 team, capturing the floor title with 9.4 in the Junior division as well as sixth on vault, fifth on bars, fourth on beam and second AA. In the Child division, Lauren Smith was fourth on vault, beam and AA and tied teammate Anna Altier for third on floor. Altier also vaulted to second place. Anna Primmer was fourth on vault, third on bars, seventh on floor and fifth AA. Julia Decsi took fifth on beam and floor and eighth AA. Alexia Buchesky flipped to eighth on floor. Grace Nash marched in the opening ceremony but was unable to compete due to a prior injury.
Tanner Generoso paced the Level 3 team, winning the AA with 37.50 in the Junior division, placing fourth on floor and second on all other events. Sydney Berk took sixth on floor where Julia McKee earned her meet high score.
In the Child division, Ava Licata won the bars and AA titles with 9.3 and 36.90 and placed seventh on vault, fourth on beam and second on floor. Alexandra Kuras was sixth on vault while Katie Cutler took seventh on floor. Stella Nehro earned fourth on bars and Regan Famigletti swung to seventh. Emily McKee and Katie Primmer earned their meet high scores on vault while Anastasia Buchesky earned her top score on bars.
In the Senior division, Stephanie Carillo took fifth on vault, ninth on floor and seventh on bars and AA. Theodora Tertiropoulos matched her top scores on floor and on vault where Alexandra Decsi also earned her top score.