BLUE STREAKS CLAIM 15TH STRAIGHT TITLE
Saratoga’s Van Horne becomes first to capture three allaround titles in school history
LATHAM » Is there anything better than receiving a score of a perfect 10 from a set of judges in gymnastics?
For the Saratoga Springs High School gymnastics team there are even better and bigger numbers…15 as the Blue Streaks captured their 15th consecutive Section II title Wednesday night at sophomore Julia Van Horne became the first team member to capture three All-Around titles.
“The history caused me to be a little more nervous, the first person to do that for Saratoga, but I wanted to come in and do everything I could for my team,” Julia Van Horne said. “It usually pays off in the all-around when I hit each event.”
Van Horne captured the vault with a 9.30 followed by the uneven bars with a 9.050 and placed second in the floor exercise with a score of 9.20. Her only misstep occurred on the balance beam, earning just an 8.450.
“I fell on beam in the first even and I was pretty bummed out about that,” Van Horne said. “I knew I had to push through on all of the other events to possibly get first place again.
“On f loor (next rotation) it helped that I was the last person on floor I saw all the floor routines and completely forgot what happened on beam and it helped me with my floor routine.”
Her best event of the night was on the vault, earning a 9.300 on
her pike Tsukahara.
“I didn’t stick the first one, but on the second one (Coach Tiffany Hogben) told me to do a second one because I wasn’t sure if I should or not and then I stuck it,” Van Horne said. “I went up from a 9.10 to a 9.30.
“In warm-up I fell on my Tsuk and when I was going for my first one my only thought was to land it, even if I didn’t stick it,” Van Horne said. “On the second I just wanted to go for the stick and that’s what landed.”
With 20 competitors in the line-up and the Blue Streaks dominating the place- finishes the only drama on the night was if Saratoga Springs senior Courtney Kirshe would earn a spot at the top of the podium as the all-around champion in front of her underclassman teammate.
Kirshe finished in front of Van Horne on the beam with an 8.925 and the floor exercise with a 9.225 as the Blue Streaks swept the allaround titles as Kelsey Jackowitz finished third at 35.075 and the trio will represent Section II at the New York State Public High School Athletic Association meet Feb. 27 at Shaker High School.
“I went out there and competed my best in each event and it paid off,” Courtney Kirshe said.
Kirshe’s night was highlighted by her personal best score, 9.00 on the vault, secured with her first and only run at the apparatus.
“Usually you do two, but I landed the first one really nicely and my coach just wanted to see the score to see if it was good enough,” Kirshe said. “When it came back as a 9.00 which is a personal best for me, she was so happy that we just stuck with one.
She had been practicing her Tsukahara vault for a year and on Wednesday night, she nailed it.
“Last year I had more nerves than I had this year, but it became easier this year,” Kirshe said. “I still had some nerves coming into it, especially since it was at the sectional meet.”
She secured the secondplace overall spot with her 8.925 on the balance beam.
“I had been a little bit shaky on beamthroughout the season this year and I added a new skill, my back tuck,” Kirshe said. “I was a little nervous that I wasn’t going to be able to land it and I fell on it in warm-ups, but I was able to overcome it, control my nerves and stay on the beam which was nice.”
Van Horne was previously tied with two-time Section II all-around champions Tiffany Hogben (’ 11’ 12), Heather Markus (’08’09) and Kaitlin Dewey (’05’06).
“She’s got a great work ethic, she is very determined, she is a hard worker and she understands the value of upgrading and understands that if she is going to stay competitive she needs to upgrade her routines,” Saratoga Springs coach Deb Smarro said. “The bar routine she did this year was a brand new bar routine, it is the only 10.0 start value in the section and she rocked it in the end.”
The Saratoga Spring allaround trio will be joined by teammates Sophie Hrebenach, Laura Eberlein and Guilderland’s Emily Borges representing Section II on the vault at the state meet. Hrebenach along with Guilderland’s Serena Munoz and Megan Szesnat qualified for the state team on the bars with the Dutchmen’s Emily andNatalie Borges along with Blue Streak Emily Fischer earning a spot on the state team balance beam squad. Another Saratoga trio, Abby Zabielski, Laura Eberlein and Kate Dalla Ratta will represent Section II in the floor exercise.