Cougars have strong leadership
By Bob Nuse, Sports Editor
Johanna Snedeker has a hard time hiding her excitement about this year’s Montgomery High School gymnastics team.
”This is going to go down as probably my favorite team ever,” the veteran Montgomery coach said. “It is a great group of girls that work together and support each other. And the leadership with Alexa (Tavares) and Sam (Hering) is unbelievable.
”Sam Hering and Alexa Tavares, my two seniors, they have been excellent leaders and they are powerhouse gymnasts. When your captains have the leadership and see to the needs of team, plus have the skills and perform like they do, it is fantastic. I let them enjoy it and do what they do.”
And not only is it a team Snedeker loves to be around, but it is a team that also performs well. The Cougars opened the season by posting wins over Shawnee and Bridgewater.
”We also have two new freshmen, Renee Mallick and Jordan Ricca, who are very good,” Snedeker said. “We have a very deep team. There are a couple of the girls who were starting last year won’t get a chance to start this year. But when I need them they are there.”
In addition to their top four, the Cougars also have dependable gymnasts in Zoe Zyvith, Kelly Martin and Nicole Schaum.
”We have a couple others who will factor in that are healing from injury right now,” Snedeker said. “As a program we have been ratcheting it up a bit. This year is the year we have been looking forward to with Sam and Alexa in the lead and Renee and Jordan coming in. The year is here.”
The Cougars opened with a 104.2-91.775 win over Shawnee as Hering won every event and finished with an all around score of 36.25. Tavares was second in two events and third in another to finish second all around with a 33.8.
Against Bridgewater, the Cougars squeezed out a 107.7-106.35 win as Hering was first in three events and second in another, finishing with a 36.9 all around.
”We have done well,” said Snedeker, whose team was scheduled to face Hunterdon Central on Thursday. “It was close with Bridgewater. We have Hunterdon Central next which seems to be a real power team. They have had many good years. Based on scores it will be a tough meet.”
The season appears as though it will continue the trend of Montgomery developing into one of the state’s top programs. Each year the team just seems to get deeper and deeper.
”We’re a larger school and the pool of kids we are drawing from has increased,” Snedeker said. “That is a big factor. Years ago we were so small. One of the alumni was in to visit recently and she was a starter. She was watching practice and she said ‘I’d be JV on this team.’
”The kids are really self-motivated and internally motivating each other to do better so the team score is better. There is a unique bond between individual and team score. They do well individually, but for the good of the team. That philosophy is shared by the seniors and they live it. They work hard as individuals but work harder as a team.”
Montgomery will once again serve as the host school for several big meets. The Cougars will host the team state meet and individual state meet, as well as the individual Somerset County meet and Skyland Conference novice meet.
Snedeker also expects this to be the year Hering will break 1,500 career points, which only three other MHS gymnasts have done before.