Hazen, host Burlington High shine under spotlight
BURLINGTON >> Boys gymnastics in Massachusetts is a very small but boisterous group of teams and athletes. On Friday night at Burlington High, those four squads got together to determine individual and allaround champions.
It proved to be a very good night for the hosts as junior Devin Hazen was consistent in all six disciplines en route to taking the individual title with a score of 47.2, six-tenths ahead of Lowell freshman Lorenzo Leary. Christian Katende of Burlington was third (42.6).
The Red Devils also collected an unofficial title as a team as they scored the best through the four meets the teams had this season with 526.1 points.
“A high percentage of these kids don’t do other sports,” Burlington coach Jourdan Marino said. “The support that they give each other is amazing.”
The tone for the night was set when Nathan Bunten recorded a perfect 10 to win the floor exercise for the Red Devils. Later in the night he came back to score a 9.4 for a convincing win in the parallel bars.
Hazen, meanwhile, had a solid performance to score 7.5 to claim the high bar title. He also finished the evening with an 8.0 on the still rings to win his second individual event.
“It really feels great,” Hazen said. “The high bars are my favorite event.”
One of the biggest cheers from the big crowd came when Leary drilled a double summersault to score a 9.5 to easily claim the vault competition. He also had a 9.1 to finish second in the floor exercise.
The other Burlington win came via Noyal Benny in the pommel horse. Newton’s Ryan Lin scored one of his two second-place finishes on the night with a 6.6.
In a lot of ways, however, the night wasn’t about the winners and scores. It was about keeping the sport going for a group of dedicated athletes and coaches.
“The percentage of the time that you fail in this sport is immeasurable in some ways,” Marino said. “Any time that you see a gain is like a huge confidence boost. And that goes for all the kids here. They really are like a huge family.”