Summit Summies Copper Team Wins L.I. Meet

The Summit Summies Gymnastics Team from sent 46 gymnasts to Long Island to compete in the USAIGC Team Cup against 13 teams from New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts the weekend of January 21-22.  This first meet of the 2012 season was a uniquely formatted team-only awards event.  No individual age-group awards were computed.  The Summies used this team meet as a tune-up for the upcoming season.  Most gymnasts competed only on their best events and the top scores, regardless of age groups, counted towards the team titles. 

Copper Team Wins First Place

 The Summies Copper team sent 17 girls to compete in their first-ever official meet.  The girls were dominant and won the meet convincingly.  Catherine Singow put up a team leading 36.6 all-around score, with an almost perfect competition.  Julie Phipps and Ruby Hodges rounded out the top three with all-around scores of 35.825 and 35.325, respectively. 

All the other Summies Copper girls are off to a great start with state-qualifying all-around performances, including: Kasey Walsh (35.275), Anna Forrest (35.10), Murphy Degen (35.00), Emma Claus (34.95), Margaret Griffith (34.425), Dana Efron (34.425), Katya Wardle (34.175), Hope Pierotti (33.425), Isabel Claus (33.25), Sofia Wilson (33.00), Sophia Schachne (32.80), Hailey Bernstein (32.6), Ellie Griffith (32.025) and Sophie Wiesniewski (31.350).

Bronze Team Wins Third Place

The ten Summies Bronze competitors were led by Kayleigh Driscoll, who put up a 34.475 all-around score.  Tess Ostroff (33.625) and Isabella Leonard (33.425) were the other all-around competitors in the Bronze meet, and all three girls have logged state-qualifying scores.  The team finished the meet in third place.

The rest of the Bronze team competed as event specialists on their best two or three events.  Sofia Confalonieri had a very strong floor (9.275) and vault (8.5).  Teammate Grace Bauman led the team on bars (8.0) and tied Confalonieri with a 9.275 on floor.  Essie Pasternack's best events were floor (8.875) and vault (8.5).  Julia Chandonnet scored well on both floor (9.225) and vault (8.45).  Leah Forrest had strong performances on vault (8.4) and beam (7.9).  Finally, Julia Ippolito earned high marks on floor (8.85) and bars (7.45).

Silver Team Finishes Third

The Summies sent 11 girls to compete in the Silver Competition, all of whom competed as event specialists.  The team finished third overall.  Many girls on the Silver team were competing in their first optional competition, which allows them to perform their own unique routines to highlight their best skills.  All the girls are off to a good start on their chosen events and should be very strong later in the season in the all-around.

The highest score among the Silver team was put up by Stella Spotts on floor (9.325).  She also had a solid bar routine (7.75).  Margaret Robb led with the team's highest vault (9.2) and put up a strong beam routine as well (8.275).  Ginny Collins earned a 9.1 on floor and scored well on both bars (8.3) and beam (8.35).  Caroline Griffith started her first optional season off strong with an 8.85 on floor and an 8.55 on beam.  Claire Murdock (8.8) and Anna Griffith (8.55) both had strong first meets on vault.  Cassie Ippolito had a strong  first optional floor routine (8.7) and scored well on bars (7.525).  Alexis Greenblatt scored well on floor (8.475) and vault (8.1).  Kaitlin Stewart's best event was vault (8.5) and she also did well on floor (8.375).  Anna Bowyer had a strong first optional meet with an 8.25 on beam and a 7.65 on bars.  Naomi Schachter continued her strength on bars from last season by putting up the second highest bar score of the team (8.1).

Gold Team Finishes Fourth

The Summies Gold team competed 6 girls, each on 2 or 3 of their best events.  The highest score on the gold team was earned by Callie DePhillips with a 9.15 on beam.  She also earned a 8.275 on floor.  Abby Claus had a strong first gold meet with a 9.1 on beam and a 9.15 on floor.  Kiera Little also had a good day putting up an 8.8 on floor and an 8.275 on beam.  MaryKaylee Speck earned an 8.875 on beam and a 7.2 on bars.  Noa Efron opened her season with a 7.5 on both beam and vault. 

All of the Summies gymnasts will be competing in their first all-around meet this weekend against other New Jersey clubs in the Presidential Classic where they will continue their quest for state meet qualifying scores.

The Summit Summies is a member of the United States Association of Independent Gymnastics Clubs, Inc. and is part of the gymnastics program offered by The Connection for Women & Families.  The team consists of girls, ages 7 through 17 years who practice 2 to 5 days a week in the Connection's state-of-the-art facility. 

Anyone interested in instructional, competitive gymnastics or summer gymnastics camp should call 908-273-4242 and ask for Tracy Burkholder, Director of Gymnastics.