Port Shines in Gymnastics Gala

The 2010-2011 high school gymnastics season culminated with a 19-team showcase meet, the Coaches Invitational, held at New Hyde Park High School on Saturday.  Ellen Charalambous of Wantagh won the Conference I All-Around title with a total score of 29.075, while Minnie Hue of North Shore won the Conference II All-Around with her 28.175.

Ten gymnasts competed, including both seniors, Sherry Kim and Dorothy Kim, as well as the top juniors and sophomores.  Junior Jessica Medaglia added to her impressive resume by winning the Conference II parallel bars event by nearly half a point – a huge margin in gymnastics – with a score of 6.8. 

But it was the floor exercise that Medaglia really wanted. 

“We added some difficulty to her routine,” coach Melissa Havern explained as Medaglia tumbled flawlessly through her warm-ups.  “The move is worth an extra half point.” 

But in the fourth rotation, with the judges watching for even the slightest misstep, Medaglia's right foot slipped out from under her as she finished that tumbling pass.  She recovered gracefully, but in gymnastics, one bobble is one too many.  Medaglia finished third – an excellent accomplishment to be sure – but once again she was edged out by Roslyn’s Keren Feldsher and her teammate Tori Gottlieb.  The difference between Feldsher and Medaglia: one-tenth of a point. This time the score was 7.9 to 7.8; the first time these two teams met, in the first meet of the year back in December, Feldsher edged Medaglia in the floor exercise 7.0 to 6.9.  On Saturday, though, Tori Gottlieb came through with an 8.1 routine to take the event.  Carly Grieco and Candace Yap also finished in the top ten in floor for Port, with scores of 6.5 and 6.45.

On vault, Long Beach High School dominated, with Tara Murphy finishing first and Nicole Toledo in third place. Second place went to North Shore’s Minnie Hou.  Ashley Berliner, Carolyln Nevins, and Emily Hack all competed in vault for Port.

In the uneven bars, it was Tara Murphy of Long Beach that finished second behind Medaglia.  Port gymnasts Candace Yap finished seventh and Lani Hack came in 14th out of 25 competitors in that event.

The balance beam title went to Samantha Forrester of Great Neck South, who won the event with her 7.7 routine.  Sherry Kim, Dorothy Kim, and Gabrie Davidoff competed in beam for Port.

Coach Havern, who has now completed her first season as head coach, is looking forward to next year with a strong squad that includes most of her current team. 

“Getting to this meet is an honor that the younger kids must earn,” she said.  She also stressed that the importance of helping the gymnasts – the students – develop not just good gymnastics skills, but also strong studying habits and learning to manage their time well.  Judging from their performance on Saturday, it looks like she has them on the right track.