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Gym-Ken's Level 4 Team Sets Record, Win States Gym-Ken Gymnastics' level 4 girls team took top honors at the recent New Hampshire
USA Gymnastics state championships. The girls set a new state record for level 4 gymnasts with 114.075 points while
facing teams from 18 gyms across the state. The 10-athlete team amassed
29 individual scores of 9.0 or above, far exceeding the goal of head coach Ruth Licata. "To encourage them all to try their best, I told them that they needed to earn twenty - 9.0's or above as
a team in order to earn a sleepover at the gym", said Licata, a Windham resident. "They were more concerned
with that than with winning the competition. Of course, they were very excited to win as well!" Each of the 10 level 4 gymnasts scored the minimum 33.00 points during the first of two sectional meets
to qualify for states. Among the twenty six 6 & 7 year old competitors,
Alexandra Masone of Windham won the all-around with 37.975 points, winning bars, beam and floor. Her best score, 9.6
on vault, earned her second place. Victoria Sipes of Windham tallied 36.275 points and placed sixth in the all-around,
including third on bars. Anya Comeau was seventh in the all-around with 36.225 points. Rebecca Heath of Windham
scored 9.25 on vault, good for seventh place. She was 12th in the all-around. In the 8-year old division, Alexis Ouellette of Salem finished with 36.35 points in the all-around, placing ninth
among 34 competitors. She was fourth on vault. Paige Butler of Windham posted two scores above 9.0 and finished
sixth on floor. Samantha Jezak, among 18 competitors, posted the highest
score among all level 4 entrants, scoring 38.375 in the all-around to win the 9 year old division. She swept each of
the individual events - vault, bars, beam and floor. Gabriella Palermo
of Salem was second with 37.725 points in the all-around, including second-place efforts on vault and floor. Ravyn Vasquez
totaled 36.9 in the all-around, good for sixth place. She finished third on floor. Scarlett Souter of Windham
tallied 36.075 in the all-around, finishing 10th. Her best finish was fourth place on vault.
 The Level 5 Team brought home the 3rd place
team trophy at the State Championship.
Julianna Corsetto of Derry - Vault 8.550, Bars 9.350 (5th), Beam 8.650,
Floor 8.900 and AA 35.450
Leah Pacunas of Derry - Vault 8.625, Bars 9.150, Beam 8.500, Floor 8.825 and AA 35.100
Erica
Muse of Salem -- Vault 8.900 (3rd), Bars 8.950, Beam 8.375, Floor 8.850 and AA 35.075
Madison MacPhee of Salem - Vault
8.850 (1st), Bars 9.100 (3rd), Beam 9.125 (2nd), Floor 9.150 (3rd) and AA 36.225 and 1st place in her age division.
Lindsay
Maffei of Windham - Vault 8.600 (4th), Bars 8.300, Beam 8.675, Floor 8.925 and AA 34.500
Level 9, Taylor Powell,
of Windham qualified to compete at the Regional Championship at Danvers High School on april 18th, where she joined the team
that represented New Hampshire. She competed against CT, VT, ME, MA, RI and NY.
Taylor has been at Gym-Ken
since age 4 and has progressed through the ranks of a compulsory gymnast (Level 1-6) and on to an Optional gymnast (Level
7-10). Taylor is coached by Kara Lemay of Candia and Ruth Licata of Windham.
"Taylor has been a very
special gymnast to train. She is self-motivated and always wants to "get it right." She works very hard
on form, strength, and endurance - all important aspects of a gymnast's training," said Coach Licata. Studies
have shown that gymnastics not only attracts this type of personality, but actually enhances a students ability to succeed
in school and beyond.
Taylor, age 12, was the youngest competitior at the NH State Championship for Level 9's.
  Gym-Ken's Level 7 Team Takes 2nd Place
at State Championship
Our Level 7 gymnasts finished the season strong missing 1st place by .5.
Level
7 (8-11 year olds)
Sarah Vignos of Windham took the first place all-around with a 9.325 on Vault for 1st, 9.3 on
bars for 5th, 9.225 on Beam for 5th and 9.275 on Floor for 6th for a total of 37.125 all-around score.
Amanda Forti
of Windham earned an 8.5 on vault, 8.650 on Bars, a 9.2 on Beam, 8.9 on Floor and 35.250 all-around for 10th place.
Level 7 (12 year olds)
Kaylee Pacunas of Derry took the first place all-around with a 9.4 on Vault for 1st, 9.0
on bars for 2nd, 9.350 on Beam for 2nd, 9.325 on Floor for 3rd for a all-around score of 37.075.
Kadianne
Tommasi of Salem earned 9.025 on Vault for 4th, 8.825 on Bars for 5th, 9.550 on Beam for 1st, 9.475 on Floor for 2nd and 36.875
all-around score for 2nd place.
Sarah Hale of Salem earned 8.5 on vault, 8.4 on bars, 9.050 on beam for 4th, 9.225
on Floor for 5th and 35.175 all-around score for 4th place.
Amanda Cioli of Derry earned 9.225 on vault for 2nd,
8.525 on bars, 7.7 on beam, 9.325 on Floor for 3rd and 34.775 all-around score.
Jessica Lord of Derry earned 8.875
on vault, 8.5 on bars, 8.825 on beam, 9.150 on floor and an all-around score of 35.350.
Level 8, Marrina Mayo of
Salem, has qualified to represent New Hampshire at the Regional Competition in Milford, CT the weekend of May 2-3. She
earned 8.8 on vault for 1st, 8.5 on bars for 3rd, 9.2 on beam for 2nd, 9.125 on floor for 2nd and 35.625 all-around score
for 2nd place.
Boys Team News
The Gym-Ken Gymnastics Boys Team is off to a great start this season.
The boys had a successful meet in December at the Holiday Invitational in Wilmington, MA. On January 11, the boys
wintered a snow storm and competed at the Annual Winter Carnival in Brentwood, NH. Great performances were had by all,
but especially by Joseph Penney who took 1st place in the Level 6 (10-11 age division) All Around competition. The Level
6 Boys Team took 2nd place in the team competition.
Now the Boys Team is off to Disney World where they will compete at the Sand Dollar Whitlow Invitational at Disney's
Wide World of Sports Complex.
In February the boys will travel to the Tim Daggett National Invitational, the American Gymnastics Invitational in CT,
and a local meet at Granite State Gymnastics in Bow, NH. The season highlight will be on March 8th, where the boys will
compete at the NH Men's State Championships where hopefully the boys will qualify to compete at the Region 6 Gymnastics competition
where the best gymnastics in all of New England will meet.
Good Luck to all the Boys on a continued successful season.
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