Warriors will be youngest team in M.L. this winter
ALYSSA VACCA, a sophomore, returns to compete on bars, floor and vault for the Warrior girls’ gymnastics team this winter.
Published in the January 8, 2016 edition.
By JIM SOUTHMAYD
WAKEFIELD — To say the Wakefield Memorial High girls’ gymnastics team is young is a huge understatement given the fact the Warriors received a waiver and have called up seventh and eighth graders to help fill the roster.
So as the 2016 season prepares to get underway, Wakefield will be fielding the youngest team in the tough Middlesex League as it seeks improvement from meet to meet.
Wakefield posted an 0-7 record a year ago and is just hoping to be competitive against its older peers in the M.L. The hope with a younger roster is that the program will get better in the future.
“Most of the team decided to run track so we called up seventh and eighth graders,” said veteran coach Lisa Mansfield. “I was hoping for more interest but we are lucky with the team we have. The team is young but hard working and (they) love being a part of the team.”
There are three sophomores returning and they are the upperclassmen of the squad since there are no seniors and juniors. The returning 10th graders include Alyssa Vacca, Lizzie Finn and Kathryn Noble.
Vacca returns to compete on bars, floor and vault. Finn will perform on beam and vault. Noble will compete on floor and beam.
There is one new sophomore on the Warrior roster. Katie Cajuda will perform on the balance beam.
There are two freshmen on the team including a male gymnast. Casey Kearney will compete in the all-around, while the lone male on the squad, Kaylo Lima, will compete on floor and vault.
There are two seventh graders on the Warrior roster. They are Elizabeth Sheridan and Courtney Collins. Sheridan can do all around but most likely will compete in three events at a time. Collins will perform in all four events as an all around gymnast.
“(We have a) Young team (with) lots of potential,” said Mansfield.
The Warriors open up the season this afternoon at 4:30 p.m. against Woburn at Woburn High School.
