By: centraljersey.com
Both Samantha Hering and Alexa Tavares seem primed to have big seasons for the Montgomery High gymnastics team.
"Samantha is No. 2 in the state right now with her all-around score," Montgomery coach Johanna Snedeker said. "She has been our top gymnast. And Alexa is our No. 2 and she is just a natural leader and an outstanding young lady. They are both amazing."
Hering has already established new personal bests in most events this season. Last week against Old Bridge she set personal marks all-around (37.750), on bars (9.25) and on floor (9.625). Earlier this season she achieved a personal best with a 9.4 on vault.
"The last two years I have started the season badly," said Hering, a junior. "So far this year I have been doing well and I go into each meet trying to get the best score I can do. My confidence has grown a lot. I am more confident in myself and my routines so I just go out and do the best I can.
"I have been doing this for a long time," added Hering, who started with gymnastics when she was 6 years old. "I put a lot of time into it."
Hering trains five days per week at Indigo Gymnastics in New Providence. Similarly, Tavaras trains with Emotions Gymnastics in Pennington four days a week.
"I am really happy with how we are doing right now," said Tavaras, who is also a junior. "We have a lot of good girls coming up. We lost some good gymnasts from last year, but everyone is doing their best to step in and do the best we can.
"I have been doing gymnastics since I was little. I liked it a lot right away and I have just kept on doing it. We put a lot of effort into it and we’re all serious about it."
Snedeker is pleased with the way her two top gymnasts have started the season and hopes they continue to improve while going against some of the best in the state in the Skyland Conference and Somerset County.
"They are both year-round gymnasts," Snedeker said. "In the Skyland Conference, to be competitive you have to be a club gymnast. You could not begin to compete against the quality of gymnast in our conference without that. Five of the top 10 teams in the state right now are from the Skyland Conference.
"We’re doing well. Right now we’re lacking some of the skills on bars that would put us in a little more competitive position with some of the teams we face. We just don’t have those skills right now. But the girls are working hard. We have 19 on our roster and nine are freshmen and we only have three seniors."
Last year, Hering finished sixth on floor and 13th all-around at the state championship meet. This year she could be heading to better results.
"Every meet is pretty close and we’re all trying to hit our routines to get the best scores we can," Hering said. "We have all been working hard. This is a very competitive area for gymnastics. I know a lot of the girls on the other teams from competing in the club meets."
Tavaras has been close with her all-around scores with Hering, giving the Cougars a strong top of the lineup.
"We compete against some very good girls and I feel like that makes us stronger," Tavaras said. "There really is no offseason for gymnastics. When you are not competing you are practicing to get ready to compete."
The Cougars’ No. 3 so far this season has been freshman Zoe Zyvith, who is one of the nine freshman on the roster.

