Close quarters, small stands, and high leaps laid the foundation for Westfield’s matchup against Summit at The Connection yesterday. The Blue Devils were able to beat the Hilltoppers 105.6-104.125 in a highly contested meet.
Beginning with vault, both teams finished with an unofficial 26.95 a piece. Senior Katie McDermott had a stellar performance scoring 9.000 on the vault which may have made up for a few minor mistakes by the Blue Devils. However, a few mistakes were to be expected as head coach Jenna Tulapol said, “We added [a] harder vault routine, so we put some more difficulty [points] up.”
Going into this meet, it was well known that this was going to be close as both Westfield and Summit are established programs. Heading into the bars the pressure was on, whichever team could take the lead in this event would have an upper hand for the rest of the meet. The Blue Devils were able to achieve this behind an 8.500 performance from freshman Maddie Lee.
Once Westfield got the lead they never looked back. This can be partially attributed to outstanding all-around performances from McDermott and senior Chloe Katz. McDermott was able to win the all-around with a score of 35.675, and Katz followed a close second only 0.600 points behind.
All-around requires competing in all four events, requiring four separate routines and skills. Katz said, “It’s definitely exhausting and I’m tired by the end of the meet, but I’ve had a lot of practice as it’s my senior year, and it’s also a lot easier when I have my whole team cheering me on.”
Energy seemed to be a big component in the Blue Devils win. Senior Nora Collins added, “Floor went well for us because we had a lot of energy which always makes it easier.” Again Katz and McDermott were able to score impressive 9.175 and 9.125, respectively, after feeding off of their teammate’s crucial energy.
The Blue Devils started their season 5-0 until losing two back-to-back meets against North Hunterdon and Scotch Plains-Fanwood. This win against Summit puts them at 6-2 while heading into one of their largest meets of the year, the Cougar Invitational, this Thursday at Cranford High School.
Collins said, “Before [facing the] Cougars, we are going to work on our beam, managing our competition nerves and just staying consistent with our technique.”
