Early scores by SBHS something to flip over

Gymnastic squad off to fast start

By: Carolyn M. Hartko
   The 2000 season is barely off the ground, but already four South Brunswick High School gymnasts have qualified to compete in this year’s state sectionals.
   "We’re ahead of the game, as far as being prepared and being ready as a team," Lady Viking head coach Jennifer Francisco said. "All four of our seniors are qualified for sectionals is at least one event apiece. That’s great, after only two meets."
   Viking team leader Colleen McCullough has made the cut-off in balance beam, floor exercises, and the uneven parallel bars. Lauren Kauders and Stefanie Whitefield both qualified in beam, and Susanne Yip will compete in floor.
   The qualifying scores came in a blowout dual meet against Sayreville last Thursday, and in the Pioneer Classic invitational meet held at Somerville High School on Saturday. The Vikings overwhelmed Sayreville 96.9- 48.9 in the season opener. The Bombers only had two girls ready to compete in most events, and SB swept the top three spots in each event. McCullough took first in the bars and floor (8.85), and tied for first in vault and beam. Kauders matched McCullough in beam (8.15), and finished third in the vault.
   Yip placed second in both bars and floor (8.35), and sophomore Kate Kardosh tied for first in vault. Whitefield took third in beam. But the best news of the meet was that two freshman picked up their first points as Vikings. Amy Saffner came in third on bars, and Risa Levine placed third in floor (7.7).
   The other Vikings who got in the rotation against Sayreville were Sarah McCall (vault), Kate Marowitz (bars, floor), Tiffany Mualem (beam) and Caitlin Ondrejack (floor).
   The Pioneer Classic was a completely different type of meet. Here, the Vikings were up against some of the best gymnasts in the region. They got to see what the competition will look like in a few months for both teams and individuals on the state level.
   The top three places went to Hillsborough (107.9), Hunterdon Central (106.0) and Randolph (105.425). South Brunswick finished sixth (97.15). The other two Greater Middlesex Conference teams in attendance, South Plainfield and Bishop Ahr, came in fourth (104.275) and eighth (86.8), respectively.
   "This was a really high level meet," Francisco said. "We did really well for the competition that was there. It was close between us and South Plainfield, so that’s going to be a close dual meet, but we were encouraged that we were able to get close. And we were quite a bit ahead of Bishop Ahr."
   McCullough was the only Viking with a Top 10 finish at the invitational. Her bar routine put her in ninth place with a score of 8.35, and she raised her vault score to 8.4, even though she tried out a new one.
   However, Francisco saw improvement and good performances from several of her top athletes. For example, Kauders had a solid beam routine that drew an 8.2. Levine’s score on the floor exercises went up to an 8.45, which will help the team a lot during the dual meet season, if she can maintain that mid-eight range.
   "On the uneven bars, we had a really nice performance from (junior) Alyssa Cantoni," Francisco added. "She had a personal best of 7.25. And that should go up. Some of our scores were lower, just because of the level of competition. In a dual meet, we would have scored higher than our scores here."
   With the Sydney Olympics in high gear, the Lady Vikings are joining gymnasts from around the world in watching the top practitioners of their sport.
   "We’re going to try to do some fun things in practice in regards to the Olympics," Francisco said. "Maybe some gymnastics charades to get the kids excited. They definitely are all watching. We gave a team award in our meet on Saturday, called the ‘Chow-for-Now.’ It was given to the kid with the best, consistent, clean performance as a little incentive. We voted on that at the end of the meet, and gave it to Alyssa Cantoni."
   It was back to practice for the Vikings this week to prepare for today’s (Thursday’s) meet against East Brunswick. According to Francisco, the goal for the rest of the season is to add some difficulty to the routines across the board.
   "I think we’re ahead of our expectations, as far as having our routines ready to compete," the coach said. "But in order to compete with East Brunswick and South Plainfield, we’re going to have to increase our skill level, especially as we get close to the GMC’s. By the time the GMC tournament rolls around, we want to have a little bit more depth, with the addition of some difficult tricks."