Bombers take gymnastics championship
By Nate Rosenthal
WESTFIELD – Some things never change and in the gymnastics world, that means that Westfield would be crowned Western Mass Champion for the third straight year. In this decade, the Bombers have now won six times and finished second on three other occasions.
But the road to victory for Westfield was not easy, as they just beat out Chicopee Comprehensive 135.500 to 132.825. It was the second year in a row that the Colts were second. Following the top two were: Hampshire, 126.925; Minnechaug, 124.375; Agawam, 120.475; Gateway. 115.650.
While depth is what won it all for the Bombers, Chicopee Comp’s Allie O’Shea was the winner of the all around, edging out a pair of Bombers for the top spot. O’Shea totaled 35.250, with wins in three of the four events. The runner up was Jennifer Balukonis with 34.550, just ahead of teammate Rachel Midwood at 34.150.
Chicopee Comp took the early lead with a strong vaulting performance. O’Shea and teammate Cassie May tied for the top spot, with 8.600 apiece. Teammate Maggie Tzivanis made it one, two, three as she edged out Minnechaug’s Emily Murphy for second, 8.475 to 8.450. The Bombers’ Balukonis, 8.350 and Midwood, 8.300 were fourth and fifth. Tying m Midwood was Sawyer Thompson of Hampshire and in sixth was Ashley Bates, 8.250, of Westfield. The run at the top gave the Colts the edge in the event 33.625 to 33.050.
The Bombers closed the gap with the balance beam, where they outpointed the Colts 33.450 to 32.800. After that event, Chicopee Comp still led in the meet, but by a mere .250 points. O’Shea was the winner in this event with 8.750 to edge out Bates, 8.700 and Balukonis, 8.650. Agawam’s Stefanie Littlefield took fourth with 8.450, while Midwood and Tzivanis tied for fifth, each scoring 8.400. Jessie Healy of Hampshire scored 8.300 for sixth.
The Bombers then won the uneven parallel bars, 33.850 to 32.950, which would give them a solid .875 lead after three events. Hampshire and Minnechaug were well behind in third and fourth, leaving the ultimate championship, between Westfield and Comp. O’Shea won this event as well, her third in as many tries in the meet. Her score of 9.050 was well ahead of Midwood’s 8.750 and this left her in a commanding position for the all around. May was third in this event at 8.650, just beating out Balukonis, who got 8.600. Murphy followed in fifth at 8.450, with Bates, sixth at 8.300. Westfield may not have had the top finisher, but 2nd, 4th, 6th and 7th garnered the points for them to win the event as a team.
As they had all evening, the two teams faced off against one another on the floor exercise, with the overall championship at take. Murphy won the event with a 9.000 and Balukonis came in second at 8.950. And while this was the only event, that O’Shea did not win, her 8.850 got her to third, along with Bates, Dmitri Kalaitzidis of Agawam and Michelle Turner of Hampshire. Fourth went to Littlefield, 8.800; Fifth to Kayla Perry of Minnechaug, 8.750; sixth was a tie between Midwood and Tzivanis, each with 8.700. Westfield took the event with 35.150, while it was Hampshire in second with 34.250. Chicopee Comp fell to third with a score of 33.450, 1.700 points behind Westfield.
The Bombers were champions again, but Chicopee Comp gave them all they could handle.
