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02/08/2019 11:00 PMFor the first time in a decade, the Hand gymnastics team left the Southern Connecticut Conference Championship without the first-place trophy in its clutches. However, the Tigers still secured a solid second-place finish by putting their best foot forward and giving every ounce of energy they had.
Hand entered the SCC Championship as the 10-time defending conference champion at Law High School on Feb. 7. After going through a regular season that’s seen young Tigers make great strides, Hand finished as the runner-up at the SCC meet. The Tigers totaled a season-high score of 131.4, only placing behind Mercy, which scored a 133.3.
Senior co-captain Grace Rogers took first place on the balance beam with a score of 8.8 on her way to placing second in the all-around with a total of 35.0. Rogers also finished second on bars (8.6), third on floor (9.2), and fourth on the vault (8.4) for the Tigers at SCCs.
Freshman Paige Dean placed fourth for the all-around (33.45), led by a second-place finish on floor (9.25), a fourth-place showing on bars (8.1), and sixth-place finishes for both vault (8.3) and beam (7.9). Senior Kelley Levis finished sixth for the floor exercise with a 9.0, while junior Carly Barba took fifth place on vault by scoring an 8.35. Rogers, Dean, Levis, and Barba each earned All-SCC accolades for their performances on the night.
Head Coach Kelly Smith said that her squad was struggling with its confidence while learning some new and difficult skills this season. However, Smith felt pleased that the Tigers showed the mental strength that was necessary for them to deliver some fine finishes at the Conference Championship.
“In preparation for SCCs, we did more mental preparation than anything else, because this team is where we want to be physically, but we needed to hit our performances, and know that we could hit them under pressure,” said Smith. “They finally came through and hit like we knew they could, and that resulted in our highest score of the season.”
Sophomore Kayla Cataldo posted a total of 30.3 for the all-around, including an 8.0 on vault and an 8.5 on the floor. Freshman Riley Caruso finished with an all-around score of 28.8 that featured an 8.7 on floor and an 8.2 on vault.
In addition to those showings, Coach Smith also noted a few unsung heroes who’ve given a tremendous effort while making major sacrifices all season long.
“Senior Catherine Aranow competed in three events for us tonight. She’s always been a strong beam worker, and we’ve forced her to step up on bars this year, where she’s drastically improved. Her contributions to this team cannot go unnoticed,” Smith said. “Last week against Law, Kelley Levis took a terrible fall on beam and dislocated her toe. We sent her to the [emergency room] and, luckily, there wasn’t a break. She scored her first-ever 9.0 tonight and managed a sixth-place finish. Senior co-captain Alara Nahar stuck her beam routine tonight with a 7.4 and also stepped up to replace an injured teammate in vault. She’s been working so hard on beam, and to see her hit in this competition was special.”
Hand will be back at Law High School to compete in the State Championship on Saturday, Feb. 23. Coach Smith said the Tigers are looking to finish their year on a high note after turning in a strong performance at the SCC meet.
“We know that a state championship might not be in the cards for us this year, but we’re working on steadily improving our scores and our performances, which we really nailed tonight. If we can perform like we did tonight at the State Championship, we will be ecstatic, regardless of what place that puts us in,” said Smith. “We like to hit in our last meet of the season and know we left all the cards on the table. If we can do that, we’ll be happy with whatever place that leads us to at states.”
• Following Mercy and Hand in the top two spots, Law finished in third place with a score of 127.15 at the SCC Championship. Foran finished fourth (117.65), and Hamden came in fifth place (110.8) at the meet.
• Last year, Hand finished as the Class M runner-up to Wilton after having won five straight Class M crowns from 2013 to 2017.
• The Tigers have a record of 4-10 in the regular season this year.