Westfield anxiously awaited the final tallies of the meet. The judges were deliberating as the team stood together clasping hands in their huddle. When the final scores arrived the girls were in pure shock. It came out to 108.6 Westfield and 107.9 Scotch Plains-Fanwood.
Westfield pulled off a win against their rival SPF by 0.7 points, making this meet one of the most intense of the entire season. The cheering out on the floor was amplified from both teams, but Wetsfield realized early in the meet they would have to match the Raiders’ energy. “Once we saw them, you’re like, we have to kick it up seven notches,” said senior Vendela Surgent. “We need to smile. We need to dance. You need to point your toes.”
It became clear early in the meet that this was a close matchup between the two teams. Both coming in with six wins on the season, Westfield took the same approach as every other meet: execute. This was the game plan all week and coach Amanda Santangelo added, “Our girls performed to the best of their ability. They all worked really hard. At practice, they knew that this was coming. So they wanted to bring out some of their newer skills.”
Beam was the second event of the night, and after producing neck and neck scores in vault, Westfield needed to make a big statement. However, the beam proved to be their weakest event of the night. With that said seniors Vendela Surgent and Shannon Gibbs were able to score a 9.025 and a 8.75, respectively. Gibbs said, “We did the best we could and I feel like there’s even more room for improvement. So I’m really proud of our team for taking the dub.”
The final tally would come down to the most show-stopping event of the night: floor. Five members of the SPF squad put up impressive scores so it was up to Westfield to put on their best performance. When it mattered most the Blue Devils delivered with the gymnasts producing an average score over 9.0. Each gymnast showcased multiple skills including layouts and flips, each gymnast stuck their landing.
This was not only an important match because of the long known Westfield vs. SPF rivalry, but also because most of the girls on each team belong to the same local gym, Surgents Elites School of Gymnastics. With seeing each other multiple times a week at Surgents then tension built up quickly for this meet. Westfield also took a loss to SPF last year with a close score, 107.95-106.225. This loss made the girls more hungry to take back to victory this year and defeat their long-running rival.
The teams next meet is at Cranford away at 4 p.m. on Oct. 12. The girls look to continue their winning streak as they prepare for the Union County Championships coming up in the following weeks.
