Wooster gymnasts celebrate winning share of NEGC

  • brian questel
  • January 26, 2011
  • 291
                        
013111 Gymnastics Promo: Strong finish carries Generals to share of gymnastics title Wooster gymnasts celebrate winning share of NEGC By Brian Questel It didn’t start well, but no one is going to complain with how it ended. After opening the season with a narrow loss against rival Cloverleaf, the Wooster High gymnastics team has wrapped up at least a share of the Northeast Gymnastics Conference championship. Wooster’s eleventh straight win, a 130.9-115.1 romp over Wadsworth Jan. 24, completed an 11-1 conference slate for the Generals, giving them at least a share of the NEGC for the second straight year. “We’re going to be tied with Perry and Cloverleaf,” said first-year coach Debbie Knapic. “We’re going to be co-champions or tri-champions depending on how Perry or Cloverleaf wind up.” That’s good company for the Generals to find themselves in after dropping a close match to Cloverleaf in its season opener. That is behind them as the Generals are headed into their final matches of the season. The NEGC Classic is scheduled for Feb. 1, with sectionals scheduled for Medina on Feb. 12. “When you play what you think is your Super Bowl at the very beginning of the season, it makes the season seem longer,” said Knapic. “Instead of gearing up for a year-end run, we gear up at the beginning. Perry has come up and been real strong – that gave us a second Super Bowl. To get geared back up for another big meet has been fun.” Four seniors -- Jenna Wengerd, Emily McIlvaine, Alyssa Reed and Mackenzie Tomblin -- have led the Generals. All are four-year letter winners and the group has helped carry the load through much of the season. “They weren’t going to sit and wait and see where we ended up,” Knapic said. “They practice hard and work hard no matter what. “The big thing is they kept the moral up,” said Knapic. “Even though we lost the first big meet, in the grand scheme, we shared the title. That was one of our goals. Another goal is to get out of sectionals and to go to districts again. The seniors have pushed everybody and rallied everybody. They told them, ‘Don’t get down because lost we lost the first meet’ … and to stay positive.” When Knapic introduced her team in early December, she was impressed with how well rounded it appeared to be. As the season as progressed, she hasn’t been disappointed with that aspect. “I think we’re the same,” she said. “We had Madison Shank out with an injury and we’ve gotten her back, and we’ve gotten Jess Gerber back, so that’s deepened what we had to begin with. The vault and the floor are our two best events, but as far as drastically improving, nothing has improved more than another. We’ve stayed very well rounded and very deep. When someone at the top has faltered, the people underneath have stepped up. It’s not about one or two people. It’s about a team of 8-12 who can step in and do the job.” That balance is what Knapic is hoping can continue through the critical part of the season. “We’ve had a couple of 128s and that’s been our low, and we’ve had a couple 134s and a handful between,” said Knapic. “We’ve been pretty consistent. It might not be the same girl every day, but we’re staying consistent. “Becky Jolliff has stepped up, especially on the vault. Emalee Higgs, our only junior, has come along great as one of our solid beam workers, and we’ve been developing Kristen Mullen and Abby Brereton as all-arounds.” The NEGC Classic is at Perry’s home mat Feb. 1 and is an individual awards meet. “It’s for each girl to go out and perform their best in a league meet, but there are no teams scores,” said Knapic. Sectionals and the right to advance to districts is Feb. 12 in Medina. “We talked (on the way home from Wadsworth) about fine-tuning things,” said Knapic. “We have to work really hard about cleaning up all of our routines so we don’t give away any tenths to build our scores. “I’m proud and I think this is a great group of girls. They work hard and they are climbing the ladder to accomplish their goals. As a coach, that’s one of the greatest things you can have.”


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