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Valley Gymnastics Jumps Out to 3-0 Start

Before the 2011-'12 campaign even began for the Valley gymnastics team-a squad that completely refurbished its roster since the graduation of three key seniors after winning three consecutive state titles-the young team was being forced to face the wind head on with little experience. But with their latest win and personal-best performances on Jan. 12, the Warriors are looking as strong as ever with their 3-0 record.

"We weren't exactly expecting any of this," said Coach Carl Cavrell of his team's undefeated start. "These scores tonight were awesome; they nailed everything well and hopefully this will start being the norm and we'll have a good shot at states."

After scoring 130 points during this meet at Shoreline Gymnastics in Old Saybrook in which Valley went up against Haddam-Killingworth and Stonington, the Warriors bested their scores from the previous two weeks and each gymnast boasted personal-best marks, as well. Leading the way was freshman Julianna Alvord with a 9.2 on vault, 8.85 on bars, 8.65 on beam, and 8.6 on floor for a 35.3 all-around mark. Despite this being her first year as a Warrior, Alvord has brought her vast prior experience to the Valley team after competing for years with Shoreline Gymnastics.

"At first, I didn't know what to expect, then I started working out with the team and it was a surprise at first that we were competing so well, but we kind of got into our groove and we've been working hard," said Alvord. "After the first meet, we started to realize we were good enough and got confident in winning. For me, this was my home gym. I definitely felt comfortable on the equipment and I think as a team we've just been able to really become closer with each other so it's easier for us to perform as well as we are."

Following close behind in performance was freshman teammate Mikayla Connor, who scored an 8.5 on vault, 7.9 on bars, 8.45 on beam, and an 8.75 on floor to equal a 33.6 all-around score. Junior captain Maggie Calamari scored an 8.8 on vault, 7.25 on bars, 8.15 on beam, and 8.45 on floor to combine for a 32.65 all-around mark; and sophomore Jenna Armenia notched a 7.5 on vault, 6.9 on bars, 5.8 on beam, and 7.4 on floor to total a 27.6 all-around score. Senior Annie Kingston competed in two events with this being her first meet back from an injury and she scored a 6.3 on bars and 6.65 on beam to add to the team effort.

"Even though our competition has been the same every week, the girls are getting more confident with each passing meet," said Cavrell. "Our real test will be Hand in a couple of weeks."

The Warriors compete again on Wednesday, Jan. 25 against the Tigers of Hand at Shoreline Gymnastics.