Gymnasts Look For Emergence Of Underclassmen And Health
Coming off a campaign in which it was narrowly edged out by New Milford for the South-West Conference championship, scoring 130.65 points to New Milford’s 130.9, and only two winters removed from winning the conference crown, Newtown High School gymnastics team is looking to again be in contention to be among the best in the SWC. It will take quick emergence among the team’s sophomores and freshmen, who comprise six of the nine team members, and some turnaround in the health department for Newtown to get into postseason shape.
Newtown’s lone captain is senior Anna Jannott, whom Coach Keristen is optimistic will do well in all four events — the floor, balance beam, vault, and uneven bars — with the floor and beam being her strongest areas. Jannott was third in the all around at last year’s SWC championship.
Raccio is hopeful that junior Cameron Vazquez will be able to compete all around, along with Jannott, and that junior Alana O’Donnell will event specialize in each meet.
The team has an overall young lineup, but getting healthy will be key. Sophomores Ashling Sugarman, Sammie Olah, and Sarah MacMullen come into the year with a few lingering injuries, but Raccio is hopeful that they will be able to recover and compete in most events by the time the regular campaign begins in early January. Sophomore Sammie Gilbert is working hard to be an all around competitor this year.
Newtown also has two freshman who bring strong skill sets to the lineup, according to Raccio. Though Maddie Jannott is currently injured, the hope is for her to compete by mid-January. Fellow freshman Liz Marcinek is working hard to be a competitor for the team.
The Nighthawks will have to overcome the graduation of strong seniors Meagan Foy, Jennifer Indelicato, Elisha Wilson, Daisey Zheng, and Kaitlyn Tumney.
The team has its practices and home meets at Kinetic Kids in Oxford. The regular season gets started with participation in the Pomperaug Invitational in Southbury on January 3. The first home meet is set for January 9 when Newtown faces Oxford for a 7 pm start.