Published in the February 8, 2017 edition

By STEPHEN MARTELLUCCI

MIDDLETON — Fueled by a clean sweep in three out of four events, the Lynnfield–Masconomet High co-op gymnastics team picked up two more wins in a tri-meet on Saturday.

The Chieftains hosted both the Danvers–North Reading co-op and Salem High School at Yellow Jackets Gymnastics in Middleton.

The Chieftains were first in scoring with a total of 140.4 points, beating the second-place Falcons by more than 13 points (127.15) while the Witches settled for third with 59.1 points.

“The meet went really well,” said Chieftains head coach Chelsea O’Hara. “That score was our second highest all year.”

The Chieftains took first, second and third to sweep three out of the four events against both schools.

On the bars, Catherine Dinanno won the event with an 8.9. Caroline Sordello took second (8.8) and Nicole Bonacorso finished third (8.7). In that same order, the girls also swept the beam with Dinanno scoring an 8.6 while Sordello scored an 8.55 and Bonacorso grabbed third with a 8.5.

On the floor exercise, Dinanno was first once again at 9.5 while Bonacorso captured second at 9.15. Miranda Marks came in third at 8.75 to complete the third sweep of the night for the Chieftains.

Dinanno was also first in the vault as the freshman had a score of 9.3 to capture the highest all-around score of 36.3 points. Bonacorso, also a ninth-grader, was second with a 9.25 to finish the day with an all-around score of 35.6 points.

With that win, the Chieftains improved to 7-1 overall.

Panthers continue streak

Their lone defeat came at the hands of unbeaten Beverly on Jan. 31 as they were edged 138.0–136.7 at the Beverly YMCA. The Panthers have not lost an NEC–CAL Meet in seven seasons as they ran their winning streak to 65 straight meets with their win against the Chieftains.

“We made some key mistakes,” pointed out O’Hara. “There was a lot of pressure and we don’t do as well on the road as we do at Yellow Jackets.”

The Chieftains did place first in all four events. Dinanno was first on the bars (8.5), beam (9.05) and floor (9.2) while captain Caitlin Clarizia took first (9.1) in the vault. Marks was second in the vault at 9.05.

However, the Panthers came in second and third in the other three events to help pull out the win.

“They have a lot of seniors and are still a hard team to beat,” said O’Hara.

The Chieftains return to the Beverly YMCA on Thursday night, Feb. 9 to participate in the NEC–CAL League Championship Meet. That meet will start at 7 p.m.