Masconomet barely edges Newton South
WinsNorth sectional gymnastics crown
NORTHBORO — During the first two rotations of Saturday’s North Sectional Gymnastics Championships, Reading and Masconomet were neck-and-neck. But the Chieftains were determined to defend their Sectional title, and pulled out all the stops in the last two rounds todoit.
Gracy Mowers’ 38.325 allaround performance powered Masconomet to their second consecutive North Sectional title with a 148.975, a nearly 5.45 lead over runner-up Newton South. Reading finished a tenth behind the Lions with a 143.475 at the meet held at Algonquin Regional.
The junior only had one bobble all meet — stepping out of bounds on floor exercise on her opening double pike. She won three event titles (vault, balance beam and floor) in addition to her all-around title.
“She’s the best in the state, and she showed that today,” said Alicia Gomes, Masconomet head coach.
But it wasn’t just Mowers’ incredible skills that pushed the Chieftains ahead. Their depth was an asset all meet. They placed four gymnasts in the top ten of the floor exercise, including a balletic turn by sophomore Emma Quirk that earned a 9.5. Junior Sarah Aylwin hit beam to finish third on the apparatus with a 9.425. Masconomet has a big enough roster to create ideal lineups on every event, and a spirit that keeps their entire team motivated.
“The most important thing is to keep the team energetic, happy and that helps everybody in the end,” said senior Kyra Flak, whose Beyonce floor exercise earned a 9.25.
Newton South came from behind to finish second with a 143.525. They opened the meet with the morning’s second highest uneven bars score, but struggled on beam. Their floor exercise was anchored by a 9.275 routine by senior
Claire Slack. On their last rotation, vault, junior Isabella Valente and Slack hit vaults for scores of 9.475 and 9.4, lifting the Lions over Reading for second place.
Reading opened with stellar balance beam and floor exercise rotations. Sophia Isbell opened with a 9.625 beam set that included a perfect side somi. On their next event, floor exercise, her high energy routine earned a 9.5. But on vault, the team struggled and Isbell injured herself. They couldn’t make up ground on their weakest event, uneven bars, and finished third.
Last year, the Chelmsford/Billerica co-op shocked the field by finishing fourth and earning the last spot to States. This year, they added Tyngsboro to their squad and found themselves advancing to states in the fourth spot again with a 141.075. Billerica’s Laila Pratt finished fifth in the stacked all-around field with a 35.95, while the steady Lily Hoyt, of Ch elmsford, finished seventhon vault with a 9.35.
Maren Eramo, Haverhill’s senior standout, had a spectacular performance in her last high school meet, earning her second in the allaround with a 37.15.
South sectional
Heading into the final rotation of the MIAA South Gymnastics Section, the top three teams — Algonquin, North Attleboro and Bridgewater-Raynham/West Bridgewater — were separated by less than one tenth of a point. The following two teams were just a point behind, creating a final round battle for the four spots to next week’s State Championships.
In that battle, Algonquin emerged the victor. In the Tomahawks’ last routine of the night, Elizabeth Debroczy hit a perfect balance beam set to earn a 9.8 and clinch their first sectional title since 2012. They edged runner-up BridgewaterRaynham/West Bridgewater, 144.675 to 143.75.
Debroczy won the allaround title with a 38.475 and had just about as perfect of a day a gymnast could have. She started the day on floor exercise, earning a 9.625, and hit her Yurchenko pike vault to earn a 9.5. Debroczy also won the uneven bars title with a 9.55 before finishing out the day with a standing back tuck and a back handspring-layout-full dismount on balance beam.
“We’ve been working really hard all season,” said Debroczy. “We came into this meet seeded fourth and the fact that we could climb up those spots is insane.”
Bridgewater-Raynham / West Bridgewater finished second for the third consecutive year. They struggled on bars, but crawled back on balance beam. Closing the meet on floor exercise, they hit every routine, including Olivia Keyes’ stellar 9.775 exercise that included a double back and double pike.
Steadily rising North Attleboro moved up a spot from last year’s South Sectionals, finishing third with a 142.225. Lindsay Robinson and Kaleigh DeMarco brought several routines well in the 9.0 range. Freshman Kathrine Gallagher was a phenom, finishing fourth in the all-around with a 37.25.
“We can go into an event and know that no matter what happened before, our last two or three scores between Lindsay, Katie and Kaleigh, will be good,” said Rocketeers head coach Krissy Cavalieri.
Last year’s South champ Mansfield shook off some jitters and clinched the last spot to States with a 141.25. Erin Hurley took second allaround with a 37.875, and continued to be the Hornets’ steady leader, especially when they encountered bobbles throughout the day.
Just missing the cutoff for States was Medfield/Ashland/Dover-Sherborn (MADS), who finished fifth with a 140.1. They had the best vault rotation of the day, earning a 36.55, and saw senior Kat Poulopoulos finish fifth in the all-around with a 37.05.