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Gymnastics Back in Action with Three Quick Wins

For the past few years, Brian LeRoux has guided Branford gymnastics as its head coach while also coaching a handful of athletes who competed as teams-of-one at North Haven because the Indians didn't have enough people to field a full-fledged team. Well, things are different in North Haven these days as the sport is on the rise in town and the school now has the mandatory four gymnasts needed to form a squad. Consequently, LeRoux is coaching the Indians in tandem with his two other burgeoning programs in Branford and Hamden and said the situation is going smoothly all-around as the teams practice at his own In-Flight Gymnastics and then hit the floor-along with the bars, beam, and vault-for some competition.

In fact, Branford and North Haven went up against each other twice last week with each team posting a victory, putting both the Hornets' and Indians' records at 3-4.

"I'm excited that North Haven can once again compete as a team and that Branford, North Haven, and Hamden all have young ladies with a big hunger and enthusiasm for working hard and competing for their schools," said LeRoux. "It's a situation that's working positively for everyone as the girls from all three teams are doing a good job of communicating and encouraging one another. And when I see one of those athletes record a personal-best score or hit a skill they've been working on, that's what makes me enjoy being a coach."

LeRoux enjoyed watching strong performances from each of his teams last week, starting when the trio traveled to Madison for a quad-meet. Although none of his squads were quite able to defeat host Hand-which is perennially one of the state's best and proved it on Jan. 17 by scoring 133.1 points-North Haven's total of 81.7 was enough to defeat Branford's mark of 59.6 and Hamden's 40.5.

Then two nights later at In-Flight, it was the Hornets' turn to notch a pair of victories as Branford tallied an 82.9 to best the Indians (56.8) and Hamden (15.1).

In the second meet, North Haven's freshman captain Lauren Macolino finished first on the beam with a score of 7.7 en route to second place in the all-around at 28.8. Fellow freshman Gabrielle Gontarek finished second all-around with a 28.0 behind a victory in the floor routine (8.1) and a second-place performance on vault (7.7). Gontarek and Macolino are joined on the team by the latter's sister Amanda Macolino, plus fellow sophomore Marie Facin, who placed tied for fourth in the on vault in the meet at Madison. All four athletes compete in each of the four events.

"North Haven came up strong and we still have time to improve," said LeRoux, who's assisted by his two daughters, Jamie and Lisa LeRoux, both who are alums of Indians' gymnastics. "Laura has been an awesome captain and she and her sister make a great combination as kids with positive attitudes. Gabrielle is a talented all-around gymnast who practices and competes hard and Marie took second place in the all-around in one of our first meets and has the skills; it's just a matter of polishing her form. We're happy to have four girls who can compete all-around, and now that we're starting to settle in, we should go full speed ahead. All of our girls lead by example and are great to have on the team."

After a few more regular-season meets, North Haven will compete at the SCC Championship at Law at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 16.