The Westfield Blue Devils faced rival Scotch Plains Fanwood in a thrilling showcase of undeniable talent on Tuesday. Despite the loss, Westfield had an exciting meet with top-tier competition and nail-biting scores.
After the third rotation with just the floor exercise left, SPF had the lead by only .15, leaving heavy pressure on the floor exercise. However, Scotch Plains brought the energy and maintained their lead through the meet despite an impressive 9.075 from senior captain Chloe Katz in her final event of the night.
Three athletes, senior Katie Mcdermott, and senior captains Nora Collins and Katz, competed in the all-around. This feat takes skill, focus, and endurance. Competing in the all around pushes athletes to their limit but afterwards the rewarding feeling is incomparable. McDermott and Collins finished with the first and third highest scores of the meet, respectively.
Freshman Maddie Lee had another great performance on bars, racking up the event’s highest score of 8.7. Lee credited the team’s success to “all work[ing] together and [doing] our best.” Lee is “excited” for the rest of the season and for the team to keep “getting better while cheering each other on.”
Although Westfield was unable to capitalize and take the lead, they put up a good fight against their rivals. “We definitely have some things to work on, but this early in the season we did a really good job,” said Collins.
While preparing for the Union County tournament, there is a definite focus on teamwork. “In typical gymnastics, it’s very individual,” said coach Jenna Tulapol. “Highschool is the one place where they can learn to function as a team, because this is where the team score really counts.”
Looking ahead, SPF hosts the county tournament during a pivotal time in everyone’s season, Collins said, “Competing at Scotch Plains gives us a feel of the equipment and gets us ready for counties. So I think it was a good experience for us, regardless of the outcome.”
Katz is looking forward to the rest of season with high anticipations for counties. “We’ve made really great improvements throughout the season and we’ve been trying our best,” she said, “We’ve been getting more diverse in our lineups and have plenty of practice before that, and I think we could still get better.”
The Blue Devils will compete at Summit on Oct. 7 where the team looks to restart their streak and keep getting better.
