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Hand Gymnastics Earns Two more Wins

Fresh off its dominating performance in the Southern Connecticut Conference meet, the Hand gymnastics team earned another pair of wins to cap off the regular season. Continuing their high team scoring, the Tigers beat Glastonbury 142.2-133.7 on Feb. 12 and then Stonington 138.25-129.95 on Feb. 16.

"This was a great way to end our regular season," said Hand Coach Kelly Smith after her team's win over Stonington. "We had a great meet and the girls are looking really solid and prepared for the postseason. We are finally looking more confident on beam and we're staying on, which has been a big boost in our scores lately."

Against Glastonbury, Hand was led by its super senior Kimmy Megargee with a 36.95 all-around, scoring a 9.4 on beam, a 9.25 on bars, a 9.3 on vault, and a 9.0 on floor. Stefani Taschner nearly matched Megargee with a 35.75 all-around with a 9.4 on vault and a 9.0 on bars, while Kendall Jerzyk added a 34.3 all-around (9.15 on floor and 8.65 on bars), followed by Abby McGuirk's 33.4 all-around.

"We came in prepped for a big meet with Glastonbury since they are the defending New England champions," Smith said. "We wanted to up the pressure a little bit to prepare for the kind of pressure we're going to feel at states. The girls absolutely rose to the occasion tonight, had their best meet of the season, and crushed our highest team score to date this season."

The Tigers were back in action on Feb. 16, closing out the regular season against Stonington, and this time Maia Smith led the charge with a 35.05 all-around. Smith posted a 9.0 on beam and an 8.8 on bars with Jerzyk was right behind with her 35.0 all-around score (9.2 on floor and 8.8 on beam). Amanda Rubano had an 8.7 on beam and 8.6 on floor, Ashlyn Thompson scored an 8.8 on vault and 8.7 on floor, Madi McNeilly had an 8.8 on vault and 8.3 on floor, Caroline Smith scored an 8.3 on beam, Julie Keenan posted an 8.5 on vault, Maggie Naclerio was awarded an 8.0 on bars and beam, and Kendall Goodman had 8.0 on floor for the Tigers.

"The high point of tonight was our floor lineup where we had all six girls go up and score an 8.0 or higher," said Smith. "It was our highest scoring event of the night."

Hand now prepares itself for the State Championship on Feb. 25 at Pomperaug.