Junior captain Maddie Lee pushed off the vault with explosive power and stuck her finish with confidence to earn the highest score of the night with a 9.225 in the Blue Devils 105.325-85 win over the Union Farmers.
Coming into the meet 1-0 after defeating Summit last week, the girls had confidence before taking on the Farmers in what ended up to be a one-sided competition. The Blue Devils had already dominated the Farmers 98.375-72 last year and took home all four events this time around as well.
With lots of time to prepare, Westfield had been drilling it hard in practice in order to ready themselves for the meet.
Lee said, “We did lots of routines in practice and we really focused on technique and making sure we were putting everything we had into the meet today.”
Another aspect of play the team wanted to emphasize was their team chemistry which was noticeable throughout the meet. During all four events, the girls constantly cheered on their teammates and encouraged them to perform their best, which Lee said was a major improvement from their last meet.
Floor ended up being their strongest event of the competition as they came out on top 27.4-23.625 with sophomore captain Caitlin Gaeta, freshman Capri Esposito and sophomore Ava Holowka’s individual scores all qualifying. Their routines, as well as the rest of the Blue Devils, were all well-choreographed and excited the crowd. The music, skills and technique the girls embraced made for an impressive overall performance.
Vault was their second strongest event by a close margin with the Blue Devils overcoming the Farmers 27.175-24, led by Lee, Holowka and Gaeta.
After that came the beam, which Westfield defeated Union on 25.425-21.195. Their routines were packed with leaps, jumps and high-quality dismounts that fueled their scores and captivated the judges.
The final event was bars, which the Blue Devils secured 25.325-15.925 over Union. Lee, Gaeta and Holowka all had powerful top three finishes and skilled routines filled with continuous swinging and giants, eye-opening flight paths and precise handstands amid their rotations.
Gaeta said, “This win definitely gives us more confidence and now we know how we can better prepare for our future meets. It also gives us more motivation to work hard, get more reps in and keep this streak going throughout the season.”
Despite the Farmers not putting up much of a fight, the Blue Devils performed exceptionally well and showed their strength going forward this season.
Head coach Melissa Greenwald said, “Another win for us just shows us that we have strength and a lot of ability. We have definitely improved upon our skills and teamwork since last year and coming in strong at the beginning of our season is really giving us hope to strive for higher scores the rest of the year.”
The Blue Devils will continue their season on Sept. 22 on the road against Cranford.
