By Rich Fisher, Sports Editor
The true test of a great program is when it succeeds without being at its best.
The South Brunswick High gymnastics team showed just how great it is last Saturday, when it battled through a sub-par (by Viking standards) effort to still advance as a team to the NJSIAA state tournament.
South Brunswick compiled a score of 111.425 to finish fourth in the Section 2 meet and seventh among all sectional teams in the state. The score was enough to earn SBHS an at-large berth as one of the 10 teams in Friday’s state championship at Hunterdon Central.
As for individuals, freshman Lindsay Carbone and juniors Jess Macay and Shannon Martin advanced to Saturday’s all-around competition.
”It is a great feeling to qualify as a team for the third straight year,” coach Mindy Verderami said. “We didn’t have our best meet at sectionals, but the girls pulled it together on floor and vault, giving us high enough scores to get an at-large bid.”
Despite an injury-plagued season, senior Marisa Liptak is still finishing on a high note and making contributions to the cause. Able to just do one event, Liptak finished seventh on bars with a score of 9.3.
”Marisa Liptak made a huge impact to the team score,” Verderami said. “It is great to have her back for that event, as it isn’t our strongest. We will be able to compete her on bars again at states, so it isn’t over just yet for her.”
As for the all-around scores, Macay and Martin finished 9-10 with scores of 37.175 and 27.025, while Carbone checked in at 36.35.
Martin finished fifth on vault (9.375), seventh on beam (9.35), had a 9.425 on floor and 8.875 on bars.
”Shannon Martin was four-for-four on the events,” Verderami said. “Her experience really showed on Saturday, as she didn’t succumb to the pressure.”
Macay finished third on floor (9.7), sixth on vault (9.35), 8th on bars (9.275) and had an 8.85 on beam, while Carbone was sixth on floor (9.625), 12th on vault (9.2), had a 9.1 on beam and 8.425 on bars.
”Jess and Lindsay had really strong floor routines, as always, which added to our team score,” Verderami said. “Jess finished third by mere hundreths of a second.”
The remainder of the Viking results are as follows:
Vault: Jenna Mayfield 8.65, Maddy Anand 8.65, Rebekah Clavin 8.5 and Dana Vasers 8.45.
Beam: Anand 8.5, Mayfield 8.25, Caitlyn Borghi 8.125.
Floor: Amanda Klein 8.975, Tori Kubick 8.5, Anand 8.475, Adrienne Greco 8.3.
”Maddy Anand and Caitlyn Borghi had strong beam routines,” Verderami said. “Jenna Mayfield did a great job on vault, and Amanda Klein, Tori Kubick and Adrienne Greco did their best floor routines of the season.”
And they’ll all be back for more on Friday.
Because that’s what great teams do.

