SMA gymnastics team hosted Altoona on Thursday
The St. Marys Area gymnastics team was back in action at home at the St. Marys Area Middle School on Thursday evening as they played host to undefeated Altoona.
Altoona kept their winning streak going as they took home a 137.2000-110.0000 victory over a SMA squad that was missing some of its top members due to illness.
“SMA was out three all-arounds for the meet due to illness, etc.,” said St. Marys Area head coach Irene Holjencin. “The team actually did great considering we did not have a full lineup on bars and had to take zeros.”
Holjencin noted that members of her squad were able to turn in some top performances in the various events as well.
“Even though the girls may have lost the meet, three of the SMA girls were able to place in the top four spots,” Holjencin said. “Becca Gnan took first on vault with an 8.475, followed by teammate Maddy Wittman taking second with an 8.45 and teammate Lexi Asti taking fourth spot with an 8.3. Maddy was also able to place fourth on bars with a 7.95, fourth on floor with an 8.6, and third in the allaround with a 33.075. Lexi placed fourth in the all-around with a 29.125.
St. Marys outscored Altoona on vault 33.4750-33.0750.
Gnan placed first in the event with a score of 8.4750, followed by Wittman with a score of 8.4500. Altoona’s Abby Donlan was third with a score of 8.4000. SMA’s Asti and Altoona’s Emma Bettwy tied for fourth with scores of 8.3000. Tying for sixth were SMA’s Danielle Rolley and Altoona’s Delaney Barr with scores of 8.2500. Altoona’s Maddy Pastore was eighth with a score of 8.1250, followed by SMA’s Jianna Gerg in ninth with a score of 7.8000, and Altoona’s Tehya Porter in 10th with a score of 7.7500.
Missing members for the SMA squad made all the difference on the uneven bars. Altoona outscored St. Marys in the event 33.5250-13.8750.
Altoona took the top three spots, with Bettwy placing first with a score of 9.3750, Donlan placing second with a score of 9.2500, and Sofia Fanelli placing third with a score of 8.2250. Wittman was fourth for SMA with a score of 7.9500. Altoona’s Barr was fifth with a score of 6.6750, and Asti was sixth for SMA with a score of 5.9250.
On the balance beam, Altoona outscored St. Marys 35.6500-29.3250.
Altoona took the top four spots in the event, with Donlan placing first with a score of 9.6000, Pastore placing second with a score of 9.4750, Bettwy placing third with a score of 8.4000, and Fanelli placing fourth with a score of 8.1750. The next five spots all went to St. Marys Area, with Wittman placing fifth with a score of 8.0750, Sydney Smith placing sixth with a score of 7.2500, Gnan placing seventh with a score of 7.1250, Asti placing eighth with a score of 6.8750, and Gerg placing ninth with a score of 5.9500.
On floor
Altoona exercises, outscored
St. Marys
Altoona took the top three spots, with Bettwy placing first with a score of 9.0000, Pastore placing second with a score of 8.8750, and Donlan placing third with a score of 8.8000. Wittman was fourth with a score of 8.6000, followed by Gnan in fifth with a score of 8.5500. Barr was sixth for Altoona with a score of 8.2750. The next three spots went to SMA, with Rolley placing seventh with a score of 8.1500, Asti placing eighth with a score of 8.0250, and Gerg placing ninth with a score of 8.0000. Tenth went to Altoona’s Porter with a score of 7.8000.
Donlan placed first in the all-around for Altoona with a score of 36.0500 and her teammate Bettwy was second with a score of 35.0750. Wittman was third for SMA with a score of 33.0750, and Asti was fourth with a score of 29.1250.
In exhibition for St. Marys Area, Smith earned a score of 7.5000 on vault, Kara Chicola earned a score of 7.2000 on vault and 6.7750 on floor, Sara 34.950033.3250.
Regulski earned a score of 5.8250 on beam, Rachelle Fritz earned a score of 5.3750 on beam, and Caitlyn Vollmer earned a score of 6.3500 on floor.
In exhibition for Altoona, Fanelli earned a score of 7.4750 on floor.
“Even though this team has had a rocky road the past couple of weeks, they still have not given up and are driving hard to be the best they can be,” Holjencin said. “We are hopeful to have our full team back into action at the next meet on Wednesday, when they host DuBois, which will also be our senior night.”
Wednesday’s meet gets underway at 6 p.m. at the St. Marys Area Middle School.