The Darien YMCA gymnasts tumbled to the top at the 2018 YMCA National Championship Meet in Toledo, Ohio, which featured more than 2,400 gymnasts competing over three days. The Darien girls won the Level 7 YMCA National Team Championship for the second year in a row. Six gymnasts won All-Around (AA) titles for their age group and level.
Team titles are awarded for Levels 6 through Championship. The Level 7 squad won the National title by nearly three points over 55 other teams. Sofia Iuteri paced the team, taking first on bars, beam and AA with 36.70 as well as third on vault in the Junior Division. Olivia Perkins placed second on vault, bars and AA, third on beam and sixth on floor.
In the Child group, Abigail Nevin had a full house, scoring second on vault, beam and AA and third on bars and floor. Natalie Solis swung to the bars title with 9.275, placed fifth on beam and fourth AA. Emma Kelly never wavered in winning beam with 9.325 and was sixth on bars and fifth AA.
Lucy Collins vaulted to fifth in the Senior group. Also contributing to the team’s success were Emma Neaderland, Megan Mitchell and Lily Fairleigh, who all earned their meet high scores on floor.
The Level 8 gymnasts competed in a qualifying round for individual event medals and team scores; the 25 gymnasts with the highest AA score in each age group move on to the finals for the AA titles. The Darien squad placed second in the team competition against 48 other teams and five gymnasts qualified for the finals.
In the Junior Division, Sarah Cross led the scoring with 36.675 for second AA, placed fifth on vault, fourth on bars and tied teammate Sofia DeStefano for sixth on beam and Anna Moss and Tori Ware for sixth on floor. DeStefano was also fourth on vault and third on bars. Moss also earned second on bars and eighth on beam.
Leilani Nguyen swung to seventh on bars while Nadia Borja was seventh on vault and third on beam. Bella DeStefano earned her meet high score on floor. In the Senior Division, Kaitlyn Moussignac vaulted to fourth.
In the AA finals, Sofia DeStefano placed third with 73.275, Anna Moss was seventh, Sarah Cross ninth, Nadia Borja twelfth and Leilani Nguyen twentieth.
In the Championship Level AA competition, Kelsey Fedorko placed third and Gianna Cardini tenth in the Senior division. Both also qualified for the event finals. Fedorko’s superior twisting skills earned the National Champion title on floor with 9.175 while Cardini was seventh. On vault, both gymnasts performed Tsuk vaults with Fedorko taking second and Cardini sixth. Fedorko was also third on beam and seventh on bars while Cardini was sixth on beam. With just two gymnasts competing, Darien was not eligible for the Championship division team competition.
The Darien boys team continued their winning ways in their second year competing at Nationals. Monty Bell and Derin Leon tied for first AA in the Level 4-1 division with 58.60. Bell was also champ on floor, pommel horse and parallel bars (p-bars) and placed third on rings. Leon also took first on high bar with 10.70 and was second on floor and rings and tied Max Kagels and Jake Simon for third on pommel.
In the Level 5-1 division, Ryland Herzog was champ on floor and pommel with 10.5 and 11.2 as well as fifth on vault and p-bars, third on high bar and second AA and on rings where he tied with Nate Smith. Smith was also fifth on floor, pommel, high bar and AA. Ryan Hough captured two titles, taking high bar with 10.5 and vault with 9.6 and placed sixth AA.
The girls Level 3 squad was paced by Avery Hansen, who swept the titles in the Child division, scoring a huge 37.575 AA. Jacquelyn Coppola tied Hansen for first on vault and was third on bars, fifth on floor and second on beam and AA.
Eve Calio placed fifth AA and seventh on bars and beam where she tied with Violet Peroni. Peroni was also seventh on vault and tied Lily Royce for seventh AA. Royce also earned tenth on vault and beam and ninth on bars. Courtney Timmeny and Penelope Hahn were steady for third and fifth on beam respectively.
Tatum Jaroch flipped to first on floor in the Junior division with 9.425 and was sixth on bars, second on beam and fourth AA. Tanner Shanley took ninth on vault and tenth on floor while Hannah Reyna earned seventh on beam. In the Senior group Emma Bookless scored second on beam, fifth on bars, seventh on vault and third on floor and AA.
Mina Leon led the Level 4 team, topping the podium on bars, beam and AA with 36.825 in the Child group and placing third on vault and fourth on floor. Stella Nehro captured first on vault and floor where she tied Olivia Davis. Nehro was also sixth on beam, second AA and tied Emily Rizzi for seventh on bars. Davis was also fifth on bars, second on beam and fourth AA while Rizzi also earned second on vault, sixth on floor and third on beam and AA.
Tess Hennigan scored fourth on beam, seventh AA and second on bars where she tied Ava Telgheder. Telgheder was also ninth AA and on floor where she tied Regan Famigletti. Famigletti also placed ninth on vault and beam and tenth AA. Katie Primmer vaulted to fifth while Madeleine McGivney earned her meet high score on floor.
Reilly Costello captured first on beam and AA with 9.425 and 36.825 in the Junior division and was fifth on vault and second on bars and floor. In the Senior group, Chloe Sernick was fourth on vault, sixth on beam, eighth on floor and sixth AA. Mia MacDonald vaulted to seventh.
The small Level 5 squad was led by Emily McKee who was the floor champ in the Child division with 9.175. Sophia Geffner and Alex Decsi earned their meet high scores on floor.
With just four gymnasts, the Level 6 squad placed 12th out of 66 teams. Julia Decsi set the pace, earning fourth on bars, eighth on floor, third AA and second on vault and beam in the Child division. Anna Primmer scored fourth on vault and beam, seventh on bars and floor and fifth AA. Lauren Smith placed fifth on vault and fourth on floor. In the Junior group, Melina Cardini placed second on beam and third on vault, floor and AA.