Watts takes 14th in all-around
By: Rudy Brandl
It would have been easy for the Hillsborough High gymnasts to go in the tank after an ominous beginning at Saturday’s NJSIAA Championships at Livingston College. Instead, the Raiders regrouped and performed extremely well on their final three rotations under the state spotlight.
Hillsborough did not execute on the uneven bars and the low scores immediately knocked the team out of contention for the state title. However, unlike last year when the entire day was a bust, the HHS girls picked up their heads and performed like champs on the balance beam, floor exercise and vault.
The Raiders finished seventh in the state with a team score of 105.875. Bishop Ahr captured its second straight team title with 110.1, followed by Red Bank Catholic (109.725) and Colts Neck (109.575). Even if HHS had matched its school record of 109.55, the team would have finished fourth.
Hillsborough got off the bus, rushed through warm-ups and marched right into the thick of competition. The first team up on bars, the Raiders hit their feet on straddle-backs and missed on some of the new tricks they added during the week.
"The meet started on such a weird note, but after that I couldn’t ask for anything more," Raider head coach Beth Murrin said afterward. "They really came back after bars. The rest of the day was great."
Hillsborough’s resurgence began on the balance beam, an event that has often defined the success of this team over the years. On this day, under difficult circumstances, the Raiders delivered.
All four HHS competitors stuck their routines, capped by junior standout Lauren Watts with a 9.30 score. Kristen Shaw and Krystina DeLuca opened with 8.675 scores and Leah Goldberg followed with an 8.8. Watts had fallen off the beam at the Skyland and Central Jersey Section 2 meets, so her state performance provided a real boost to the team.
"After everyone else went, there wasn’t as much pressure but I knew I could get our score up even higher," said Watts, who finished 10th in the state on beam. "I didn’t feel as much pressure. I felt confident."
"Beam was awesome," Murrin added. "Nobody even came close to a bobble."
Watts showed her best stuff on floor, standing up her impressive double-back on the first pass to produce a 9.4 score that ranked fourth in the state. She had hit the double-back to dismount from the uneven bars, but previous problems on the apparatus created a low 8.4 score. On floor, Watts nailed the double-back early and rolled through the rest of the routine.
"It felt pretty good," Watts said. "There were a lot of people doing doubles and I wanted to nail it like all the other girls."
Teammates Mary Kate Lynch (9.15), DeLuca (8.95) and Shaw (8.70) gave the team a good start on floor, but Watts ended it with a huge exclamation point.
The Raiders finished their day on vault and posted decent scores. Shaw (8.50), DeLuca (8.675) and Lynch (8.80) did well and Watts (9.25) capped her stellar individual performance. Watts scored 36.350 to take 14th in the all-around and finished just one-tenth of a point out of award range.
Watts had the option of going back and competing for individual honors in the afternoon, but she elected to stick with her scores. Rather than redo all four events, which is the only option given to athletes who qualify as team members and individuals, Watts decided to watch the rest of the competition.
"She stood up all her hard stuff," Murrin said. "She nailed her other three routines. It’s tough to go back and do all four."
"I’m happy I stood up my double-back on both bars and floor," Watts said. "I figured I’d just add it in. You might as well go for everything at states."
The Raiders have earned that opportunity in all six years of the program’s existence. Twice, they’ve finished as high as fifth in the state. With four-year standout DeLuca the only graduating senior, the HHS girls expect to be in a position to accomplish great things again next year.
"One of these years," Murrin said. "It’s coming."