Published January 24, 2020
By JENNIFER GENTILE
SAUGUS—The Melrose High gymnastics team earned their third straight win with a victory over Burlington on Tuesday and a 137.8-127.0 sweep over Arlington last Friday evening at the YMCA Metro-North in Saugus. Melrose is now enjoying a winning record of 3-2 as they wind down regular season with an eye on the league meet in early February.
Last Friday, Melrose topped the Arlington Spy Ponders in all four events, with their strongest performance in the vault. Melrose took the event 35.1-32.45 behind the work of Sofia Pitcher, Taylor Pesce, Grace Burke, Nizole Nzui, Ciara Smith and Katie Wright, who had an event-high score of 9.15. Wright had a solid all-around night for Melrose, earning 35.65 points in her work on the beam, floor, bars and vault. Her 9.3 floor routine topped all scores over the evening.
THE MELROSE High gymnastic team picked up wins over Burlington and Arlington this week. Pictured on beam is Gabrielle Prodgers. (Michelle Dell Isola photo)
Melrose also had a solid showing on bars, besting Arlington by a good measure of 34.1-29.3. Wright topped the pack in scoring (8.7) while Ciara Smith, Lucy Hannon, Sofia Weissman, Grace Burke and Jane Harrington all topped their Stoneham counterparts. “We are coming along in this event,” says Melrose coach Denise Valdez. “It’s a hard event for us, but we have some new dismounts and are working on new stuff.”
On beam, Melrose struggled a bit but still took the event from Stoneham thanks to the work of Wright, Smith, Lucy Hannon, Sophia Weissman and Grace Burke. “We did have some uncharacteristic falls,” said Valdez. “But they hit everything they needed to hit. I mean it is only 4 inches wide,” she chuckled.
Floor was once again a strength for Melrose, who saw Wright lead the pack and a quality routine from Gabrielle Prodgers and Grace Burke. Also hitting the mat were Lucy Hannon, Sophia Weissman and Brooke Heidebrecht. “We had a change of lineup with Brooke in there tonight and she did a great job. Also, Lucy did so great with a 1 and a 1/2 [in her routine].”
Melrose followed up that act with another victory over Burlington on the road Tuesday evening, 133-127. Melrose took all four events and highlights include a sweep in the bars behind the work of Katie Wright, Jane Harrington and Sophia Weissman and another sweep in the vault thanks to Sophia Pitcher, Taylor Pesce, Grace Burke, Nicole Nzui, Ciara Smith and Katie Wright.
The team will hit the road against Winchester on January 28 to lock down another win, and will host Senior Night at home on Feb. 5 against Woburn with a start time of 8:00 p.m. On Feb. 10 Melrose will take part in the ML League meet.
