High School Sports

Wantagh gymnasts eye county berth

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The Wantagh High School gymnastics team, winner of its first nine meets this year, is eyeing a trip to the county championships next month. The varsity team, under the direction of coach Eileen Keener, consists of 14 girls.

The gymnasts compete in one or more of four events — vault, balance beam, uneven bars and floor exercises. Five of the girls, seniors Lauren O’Mara and Gina Ciappina, junior Gillian Chowske, sophomore Julie Giardina and seventh-grader Grace Conway compete in all four, which Keener calls “all arounders.”

“To be an all-around gymnast is very tough,” she said. “Each piece is very different. The abilities and the skills are different.”

O’Mara, Ciappiana and Chowske are the captains. Keener said that floor exercises are the best event for her two seniors, and balance beam is Chowske’s top event, but she also does well on the uneven bars.

“Gillian is my top scorer on bars,” Keener said, “and she’s very strong on the balance beam. She’s a solid, consistent all-around gymnast.”

The coach noted that O’Mara and Ciappiana have been members of the team since seventh grade, and she will miss their leadership after they graduate.

The gymnastics program got a boost this year with the addition of new uneven bars. The purchase was a combined effort of fundraising by the girls, and a donation from the Wantagh Booster Club.

Keener said the new equipment was definitely needed, as some schools did not want to compete at Wantagh because the old bars were not up to standard. The new bars are wider and taller, which allow girls a greater range in the routines they can perform.

Chowske said she was too tall for the old bars, so the new addition has allowed her to expand her abilities as a gymnast.

This year’s team has seven high-school girls and seven from the middle school, so they have implemented a buddy system. Ciappina said it is important to mentor the middle-school girls as they are the future of the Wantagh gymnastics program. The team as a whole, she added, is very close.

O’Mara said she looked up to the high-school gymnasts when she first joined the team, so now she strives to be a role model for the younger members.

Last year’s team had five girls qualify for the state tournament based on their average scores for the year. Keener is hoping for the same success, and is also expects her team to make it to the county meet on Feb. 5, which will feature the top eight teams from Nassau County. “As long as we keep up our scores,” she said, “we’ll qualify.”

The team’s next home dual meet will be this Friday at 5:15 p.m. against North Shore High School in the middle school gymnasium.