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02/27/2012 11:00 PMThe Hand gymnastics team has mastered the Southern Connecticut Conference meet, but is still learning how to hunt down a state title. The Tigers had an improved finish this year in the Class M meet by coming in second place, two places better than last year's fourth-place finish. Hand scored 140.85 points-less than two points behind state champion Woodstock Academy, which scored 142.23.
Hand won the floor routine with a total team score of 35.95, led by Kimmy Megargee's 9.4. Megargee also scored a 9.45 on beam, a 9.15 on bars, and an 8.75 on the vault. Hand took second in both the bars and beam and third in the vault. Megargee was the only one of the Tigers' seven gymnasts to compete in all four events. Stefani Taschner posted a 9.15 on vault and an 8.85 on both the vault and floor. Kendall Jerzyk scored a 9.1 on floor, an 8.9 on beam, and a 7.8 on bars, while Abigail McGuirk was awarded a 9.075 on vault and a 7.75 on bars. Madison McNeilly (8.5) competed on the vault, while Maia Smith (8.8) and Amanda Rubano (8.725) competed on the beam.
Megaree, Jerzyk, and Taschner all were named to the All-State First Team, while Smith made the All-State Second team.
"Overall, we're really pleased and the girls were excited to be on the podium," said Hand Coach Kelly Smith. "We had a slow start on bars and made some mistakes that didn't put us in a very good position. We regrouped and had our best meet of the season on beam. Our lowest score was a great score of an 8.45 and it went up from there. We continued to do well on vault and floor for a great overall team score over a 140. So we placed higher than our ranking and scored higher than our season average, which is great. We're so proud of how the girls battled back from their rough start."
Though Hand didn't claim the title, not all was lost as its score was good enough for third-best in any of the three class sizes. With this score, the Tigers will be competing in the State Open on Saturday, March 3 in New Milford. In the Open, Megargee will be competing in all four events, Taschner will be on vault and bars, Jerzyk will compete on floor and bars, and Smith will be on the beam. If Hand earns a top-two finish at the Open, it would then qualify itself for the New England Championship.