The trees outside Westfield’s wrestling gym were shining in the sunset, rays of light spilling onto the mats laid out for the final event of the meet: floor. Senior Shannon Gibbs stood near the edge of the floor, awaiting the judges’ go-ahead sign. With the meet’s last floor routine, Gibbs looked to cap off Senior Day with one final, high-scoring performance.
The music started, and Gibbs worked through her routine, finally turning and acknowledging the judges as the music faded. After some deliberation, the judges scored her with a 9.45, Westfield’s highest score of the entire meet. The Blue Devils racked up a total score of 104.7 against Union’s 81.1.
Gibbs also tallied the highest score for Westfield’s vault event with a 9.125, closely followed by fellow senior Emily McGovern’s 9.00. Gibbs participated in only vault and floor, scoring the highest in both of these categories. McGovern also posted impressive scores in the two other events she competed in: a 8.75 on beam and a 9.25 on floor.
“I felt nice and confident. I felt like I got it in the bag,” Gibbs said. “And I’m proud of my teammates for doing it, too.” Overall, in each event five Blue Devil gymnasts posted impressive results, outperforming their opponents from Union.
Another star of the meet was senior Vendela Surgent. Surgent scored meet-highs of 9.025 and 9.15 at bars and beam, respectively. On bars her swings were fast and her dismount precise; on beam her acrobatic and dance skills were quick but were executed with efficiency and accuracy.
Senior Day is an important event for all senior athletes, and for the Westfield gymnasts and their head coach Jenna Zito, it meant something extra special.
Zito’s first year as coach was this senior class’s freshman year, so they’ve grown together as gymnasts and people over the past four years. “We just wanted to honor the seniors. We’re still kind of early in the season, it’s not our biggest meet,” Zito said, “but, it was really nice to be able to give the seniors their time to shine and also a couple of other girls.”
Throughout the meet, it was clear that Zito truly believes in and respects her gymnasts; she was always beside the equipment, supporting them with tips and motivation as they performed their skills. Zito said, “I think a big part of high school gymnastics is making it full of fun and energy, and as a team sport, and we want to really embrace that.” When one gymnast would compete, all the others would cheer and fill the room with spirit, seemingly passing it right into the performer.
A large part of this team’s success is their chemistry, which is emphasized by Zito’s leadership. “We do a lot of team bonding, keeping the girls together, but they’re a really good group and they push each other. The seniors are really good leaders, so they all kind of lead by example,” Zito said.
Westfield’s confidence has skyrocketed for each other and in their abilities after this win, and the Westfield gymnasts hope to carry this momentum into their next meet against Scotch Plains-Fanwood, scheduled at home for Oct. 5.
Live tweeting and additional reporting by Adrian Fleming.
