Girls Gymnastics: Season Preview

By Mary Lawrence Huffman

Junior Isabel Hansen doing a floor routine (Courtesy DAF).  

Last year, the Girls Gymnastics team placed first in the preliminary invitational, earned second at FCIACS, and finished fifth at states.  “Both Nikki Carlo and I made it to state-opens, and we also completed at New Englands,” senior captain Sam Aparicio said.

“We have three new freshmen this year, who are all experienced gymnasts, which is really exciting, as they will all be competing in the varsity meets and contributing to the team’s all-around score.  We also have four returning sophomores," Aparicio said.  Sophomore Carlo is expected to do well this season, as she is one of the highest scorers on the team and is always consistent during her meets.  “Her specialties are beam and floor, so we’re expecting high scores from her on those apparatuses, just like last year.  She made first team All-FCIAC status last year,” Aparicio said.  Sophomore Sofia Fea is also one of the leading gymnasts on the team this year.  “She held the third highest scores last year on floor and beam and has only improved since then," Aparicio said.  Aparicio herself is a significant contributor to the team and has been for the past three years.  Last year, she was second All-Around for FCIACs, sixth All-Around for State-Opens, tied for second on the vault at New Englands, and First Team All FCIAC and All American.    

Greenwich, like last year, is going to be the Girls Gymnastic team’s greatest competition.  The team came in second to Greenwich at FCIACs.  “Nikki, Sofia and I compete with some of the Greenwich gymnasts on the same club team, so it’s actually a very friendly competition,” Aparicio said.

“This season, we’re really trying to build up the skills in everyone’s routines; the harder the skills, the greater the start value, which ultimately means a higher final score.  If we can increase the difficulty in most of the girls’ routines, then we’ll be set for a strong upcoming season,” Aparicio said. 

The Girls Gymnastics team’s first meet is the Pomperaug Invitational on Saturday, January 7th.   “If we start out as strong as we did last year, winning the first invitational, I’m sure we’ll continue as a competitive team throughout the season," Aparicio said.