By MICHAELA LYONS
WAKEFIELD — On Jan. 18, the Wakefield Memorial High School gymnastics team faced gymnastics powerhouse Burlington in an exciting and competitive meet. After scoring just over 122 points against Reading on Jan. 15, the Warriors were eager to make a comeback.
Starting on vault, junior Giuliana O’Neill dominated the JV spot by scoring a 7.2, setting the tone for the rest of the lineup. Sophomore Kyler Dennison’s amazing height off the table scored her a 7.7, contributing to the team’s cumulative vault score. Senior captain Mia Rich (8.1) and sophomore Olivia Wall (8.0) kept the vault rally going. Fulfilling her role as the anchor of the lineup, senior captain Cheyenne Toppi performed a tucked tsuk, scoring an 8.7 and placing first on vault.
In the uneven bars event, with a small but mighty lineup, the Warriors kept good form throughout their routines and stuck their landings. The sophomore bars dynamic duo, Cara Carangelo and Sophia Tulipani, defined the first half of the lineup by scoring a 6.9 (Carangelo) and a 6.2 (Tulipani). Bars anchor Rich scored an 8.65, placing second and earning a career high for her on the event. Rich commented that her bar routine was definitely the highlight of the meet for her.
While there were some falls on beam, the Warriors made up for it with clean execution. Junior Michaela Lyons started it off for the team by scoring a 7.0. Dennison followed by scoring the same as Lyons and Tulipani contributed by scoring a 7.2. Toppi received the top score for the Warriors in the beam lineup, scoring an 8.15. Rich scored a 7.8, ending a strong beam performance by the Warriors.
The confidence that the team had on beam transferred over to floor. Senior floor specialist Nicole Dowd scored a 7.3, a career high for her.
When asked about how she felt the moment the score flashed, Dowd replied, “I was very happy. I didn’t expect it.”
Sophomore Tori Grace, also a floor specialist, kept the energy going by scoring a 7.5, and Wall followed by scoring the same. Captain Toppi (8.4) and Captain Rich (8.5) rounded out the meet with fun, exciting routines. While the Warriors lost to the Red Devils, they ended up receiving their second best score of the season (124.3).
Captain Rich says that in order to improve their season high, the team definitely needs “more consistency.” Yet, she was hopeful the Warriors will hit a 125 at some point in the season.
The Warriors have definitely shown some grit throughout the season so far and they will continue to improve every meet.
The Warriors earned their second win of the season, that 125 and more with their best performance of the year against Malden on Wednesday night, 128.75-109.55. A full story will appear at a later date.
Wakefield (2-4) will meet Melrose tonight, 7:15 p.m. at YMCA of Metro North.