Team finishes 0.3 away from title
by Rudy Brandl, Sports Editor
The Hillsborough High gymnastics team finished third in Saturday’s NJSIAA Championships at Hunterdon Central. The Raiders, who were seeded first and considered a slight favorite to win, placed third for the second consecutive year.
Hillsborough, which had compiled a meet and state record score of 114.375 to capture last week’s Central 2 Sectional crown, hit a mark of 111.850 to finish three-tenths of a point behind five-time champion Bishop Ahr (112.150). Pascack Regional was second with 112.125 points.
“It was really close and that’s the hardest part,” HHS head coach Beth Murrin said afterward. “They’re all thinking about those couple of tenths.”
The Raiders started the meet with an outstanding performance on vault, with Christina Rhoades (9.525), Robyn Roundtree (9.5) and Chrissy Weber (9.35) counting scores. They kept it going with a decent effort on bars, with Weber (9.425), Brittany Marcsisin (9.325) and Rhoades (8.925) posting marks.
Senior Mary-Kate Lynch (9.45) led the way on beam, where Weber (9.275) and Rhoades (9.125) also contributed. Weber (9.5) and Rhoades (9.425) gave the Raiders hope in the final rotation on the floor, but either Marcsisin (9.075) or Lynch (8.975) needed a higher score to propel the team to first place.
“Even though we didn’t win, I’m still proud of what we did today,” Weber said.
For complete coverage of all the Hillsborough High sports action, see Thursday’s Hillsborough Beacon.

