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Hand Gymnastics Places Third at State Open

The Hand gymnastics team made its season's final dismount last week by taking part in the State Open. Held on March 3 in New Milford, the Tigers were stacked up against some pretty stiff competition and finished in third place, the same spot as their seed. Hand-which has been consistently scoring near 140 points all year long-put up another impressive team score, totaling 139.35 points to finish just behind Glastonbury in second (143.625).

"It's a great accomplishment for us to be among the top teams in the state, especially with the caliber of Woodstock and Glastonbury this year," said Hand Coach Kelly Smith.

Senior captain Kimmy Megargee qualified for the New England Championships held in New Milford on March 10 in the floor event. Megargee helped the team as whole come in second in floor (9.35) while Kendall Jerzyk scored a 9.125, Abigail McGuirk a 9.0, and Stefani Taschner an 8.9.

The Tigers' next best event was the vault, coming in third overall as a team. Again, Megargee was the team's highest scorer with a 9.1, followed by McGuirk (9.075), Taschner (9.05) and Maia Smith (8.45).

After a strong showing on the beam in the state competition, Hand struggled by its lofty standards in the State Open. The Tigers placed fourth overall with Megargee posting an 8.4, Margaret Naclerio and Amanda Rubano each earning 8.05, and Taschner scoring a 7.75.

"After nailing beam last weekend, this weekend we struggled. Junior Amanda Rubano and senior Maggie Naclerio deserve some recognition there because they were our rocks on beam and really hit it for us," Smith said.

Hand also finished fourth overall on the bars. Megargee again led the way with a 9.175 followed by Jerzyk (8.725), Smith (8.575), and Taschner (8.575).

"Maia Smith, Kendall Jerzyk, Stefani Taschner, and freshman Abby McGuirk all had strong performances throughout the day for us today," said Smith.