Gymnasts upend KP; wrap up regular season

By Kathy Anderson

The Canton High varsity gymnastics team finished the regular season last week with a disappointing record of 2-9. The Bulldogs showed marked improvement throughout the season, however, and earned their two wins in the second half.

On January 25 Canton lost to visiting Oliver Ames by a fraction of a point, 123.6-123.625.

On bars, a difficult challenge all season, Becca Spada scored a 7.0, Josh Klein a 6.8, Nicole Zane a 6.7, Becca Pulcini a 6.5, and Kayla Lyles a 4.5 — her first time competing on bars.

The balance beam scores fared much better with Pulcini scoring an 8.5, Spada an 8.3, Zane a 7.8, Maria Rubino and Jessie Brooks 7.4 each, and Lyles a 7.09.

Klein shone on the vault with an 8.85, Pulcini hit an 8.0, Lyles a 7.8, Spada a 7.75 and Liz Doherty a 7.4.

Spada topped the floor exercise with an 8.1, followed by Rubino with an 8.0, Pulcini a 7.9, Siena Torenzio a 7.7 and Brooks and Jamie Hines each scoring a 7.65.

“This was an extremely close meet,” coach Carla King said. “Jackie Kelliher, one of our top-scoring gymnasts, was out with a foot injury, leaving us with a disadvantage to begin with, and Becca Pulcini competed the whole meet with severe back pain but stuck it out.”

King also credited Hines and Torenzio with showing improvement on the floor.

On January 29 Canton traveled to Sharon and lost 122.3-134.

On bars, Spada and Klein scored 7.3, Kelliher a 7.4 and Pulcini and Zane with matching 7.0s.

On beam, Spada again led with an 8.0, followed by Pulcini with a 7.9, Rubino a 7.8, Zane a 7.1, Stephanie Mui a 7.0 and Lyles a 6.6.

On vault, Klein nailed an 8.4, Spada scored an 8.0, Lyles a 7.6, Doherty a 7.3 and Brooks a 7.0.

Brooks scored a season high on the floor with an 8.3, Rubino scored 7.8, Torenzio a 7.6, Anna Rubin a 7.5 and Hines a 7.2.

“Anna Rubin was back on floor doing a great job, and Jessie Brooks has shown so much improvement on her floor routine and it reflected on her season-high score,” King said. “We continue to struggle with bars, but Jackie Kelliher and Becca Pulcini are incorporating much more difficulty in their routines to give much help to this event.”

On February 2 Canton traveled to King Philip and won by a landslide score of 130.1-109.

Kellliher scored a season high of 8.4 on bars, followed by Spada with an 8.0, Pulcini a 7.9, Klein a 7.8 and Zane a 7.2.

On beam Pulcini scored an 8.4, Rubino an 8.3, Lyles an 8.2, Spada a 7.9, Marina Vozzella a 6.6 and Kiana Weary a 6.0 in her first time competing.

On vault, Klein again topped the scoring with a 9.1, Pulcini an 8.0, Spada a 7.9, Lyles a 7.75, Vozzella a 7.65 and Doherty a 7.45.

Canton soared on the floor with Pulcini landing an 8.45, Spada an 8.3, Rubino an 8.25, Hines a 7.45, Torenzio a 7.2 and Rubin a 7.15.

“This was probably one of our best meets this season,” King said. “Everyone showed great improvement on all the events. Kelliher scored a season high on bars with an injured foot and Becca Pulcini scored well all around still mending from a bad back and knee. The team really ended on a good note.”

The Hockomock League meet on February 6 was an individual meet with Klein placing first in the league with a season high score of 9.4. Lyles also placed on beam at sixth with a season high of 8.6 and Pulcini placed sixth on beam in the all around with an 8.7.

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Posted by Canton Citizen on Feb 11 2010. Filed under High School, Sports. Both comments and pings are currently closed.