Photo courtesy of Varsity Vantage

Stability. Power. Consistency. On Thursday, Westfield faced the Old Bridge Knights. With all eyes on her, the pressure was on junior Annabel Lang to perform her beam routine. After bars, Westfield was up 50.1 to 43.675, but they still needed to cement their lead. However, Lang did not cave in under the pressure,instead she put up one of the highest scores of the day, an 8.8.

Coming off of their first win, the Blue Devils were feeling self-assured. “I think we got the first meet jitters out of the way,” said captain Nora Collins. “As the season progresses, we’re just going to feel more confident in our team.” 

Westfield got off to a hot start, with everyone scoring an eight or above on vault. Senior Katie McDermott had the highest score of the meet, racking up an 8.9. Even with these fantastic numbers, Old Bridge was creeping up early in the meet with only one point behind the Blue Devils.

On bars, Westfield started to run away from the Knights. Led by freshman Maddie Lee with an 8.325, the Blue Devils lead was growing. “I felt the team did a great job dealing with some adversity,” said coach Jenna Tulapol. “Not all their routines went as planned, but they were able to recover nicely and pull off the win.”

The team excelled on beam, scoring 24.95 points with performances from Lang, Lee, and McDermott. After an injury riddled season, Lang’s success was a highlight of the meet. “It was really just a great opportunity to compete again,” Lang said. “I was just thinking about breathing, staying calm and not stressing out.”

In the final event of the day, Westfield set the room on fire during the floor routines. McDermott completed her second meet competing in the all-around, and scored an 8.375. Collins also had an outstanding result, chalking up an 8.75. 

With a positive outlook on the season and growing confidence, the Blue Devils have high hopes for the upcoming season. “The team now has two competitions under their belt, and were able to shake off a lot of cobwebs at the beginning of the season. They are building their endurance, which will undoubtedly help their confidence when performing,” said Tulapol. 

Westfield will face off against Hunterdon Central on Monday at 5PM. The Red Devils are coming off of a 10-0 season, and were certainly the team to beat.

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