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01/13/2013 11:00 PMAfter its first-place finish at the Pomperaug Invitational, the Hand gymnastics squad earned a clean sweep in first week action, defeating Stonington 140.2-120.3 on Jan. 9 and then Law 135.8-120.5 on Jan. 10. to move to a 2-0 mark on the campaign.
Against Stonington, Abby McGuirk made strong marks in the all-around (36.15) on floor (9.25), on the vault (9.1), and on the beam (9.0). Kendall Jerzyk was right behind her with marks of 35.0 in the all-around, 9.0 on floor, and 8.8 on the beam. Stefani Taschner (34.95 in the all-around) also added to the Tigers' total with a 9.25 on the vault and 9.2 on floor. Additional floor scores were tallied by Maria Iennaco (8.9) and Erin Maxwell (8.7 on vault and floor). Becca Anderson also earned the same 8.7 mark on the beam.
"We were really excited to break the 140 score barrier this early in the season, which is a very good team score," said Head Coach Kelly Smith. "The girls competed great tonight and especially made some improvements in their confidence level on beam. Becca stuck her beam routine for the second meet in a row and looks like a seasoned veteran, not a freshman. Abby, Stefani, and Kendall each improved their all-around performances and Abby broke the 36 all-around [average of a nine on every event] mark for the first time. It was a very successful night."
One night later against Law, Taschner earned marks of 35.7 in the all-around event, 9.4 on vault, and 9.0 on floor. McGuirk followed with 34.8 in the all-around, 8.9 on bars, and 8.8 on floor. Jerzyk had scores of 32.5 in the all-around, 8.5 on vault, 8.6 on floor, and 8.4 on bars and Iennaco competed to 8.6 on floor and 8.2 on vault. Erin Maxwell added an 8.1 on vault and 8.5 on floor.
"It's really tough competing in back-to-back days and especially to compete the day after a long travel meet so there was a little fatigue and a few mistakes tonight that we'll be looking to clean up," remarked Smith. "Stefani's vault was certainly a highligh and that is the highest individual score we've had this season, along with one of her highest vault scores in her high school career. She also hit her routine on beam tonight, as well, and her performances really stood out as solid overall this evening. It was great to defeat Law with some room to spare, since they are one of the teams who usually challenge us in the SCC. We see them one more time in the regular season before the conference championship."
- John Lecardo