Mansfield girls rally, vault past Medway
NORTHBOROUGH >> Sitting in eighth place midway through the South girls gymnastics sectional on Saturday at Algonquin Regional, Mansfield coach Lauren Dunn wasn’t worried. And for good reason.
The Hornets finished in a blaze of glory as they came back to take the title in the final rotation thanks to spectacular vaulting.
Their 142.550 score was just over a tenth of a point better than Medway in a competition that was topsy-turvy from the outset.
“All five of our vaulters hit and that was great,” Dunn said. “We’ve been consistent all year.”
Going third in the final rotation, the Hornets came to the vault knowing what they needed to do after Medway had finished with a stellar set of routines on the floor and a team score of 142.425.
Mary Kate Parsons set the tone for the Hornets with an 8.500. Ava Redding’s 9.200 and Bridget Boni’s 9.100 kept the momentum before Sophie Moore and Andrew Znoj brought the house down.
Moore’s 9.525 vault was followed by a near perfect 9.700 by Znoj to complete Mansfield’s remarkable comeback.
Medway led after the first rotation before Newton North used a 35.375 on the vault in the second rotation to take the lead at the midway point.
The flip-flopping of the standings continued in the third rotation as Brockton went from fourth to first thanks to a spectacular performance of its own on the vault, scoring 36.400 to move ahead of Medway and Newton North entering the last rotation.
Medway had three scores of 9.0 or better in its floor rotation while Medfield/Ashland/Dover-Sherborn closed its day with a 35.800 on the vault, setting the stage for Mansfield’s big finish.