Picks up first win over Winchester
Published January 22, 2021
By JENNIFER GENTILE
SAUGUS—It was a victorious outing for the Melrose High gymnastics team, who earned a solid win over longtime rival Winchester during their home opener on Sunday, Jan. 17 at the YMCA Metro North center in Saugus. Fueled by a very solid vault routine and some consistent all-around scores from Lucy Hannon and Grace Burke, Melrose swept every event and rode to a convincing victory of 131.55-123.5 over Winchester. Melrose (1-1) will next face Stoneham on Saturday on the road at 9:30 a.m., looking to make it two wins in a row.
Melrose kicked off the meet against Winchester with a great performance in the vault, led by Brooke Heidebrecht, Sofia Pitcher, Taylor Pesce, Lucy Hannon, Katherine Carney and Grace Burke. All the vaulters placed in the 8.0’s with Katherine Carney enjoying an event-high score of 8.7. “Katherine competed her first tsuk, and I couldn’t be more happy that she stuck it,” says Melrose head coach Denise Valdez.
Melrose also took the bar event behind the effort of Raessler Guthrie, Katherine Carney, Brooke Heidebrecht, Sophia Weissman, Grace Burke and Lucia Hannon. Grace Burke enjoyed an event-high score of 8.2 while teammates Lucy Hannon and Sofia Weissman had scores of 8.0 and 8.05, respectively.
Winchester was more competitive in the balance beam but were no match to Melrose’s Lucy Hannon who had a gorgeous 9.1 performance. Earning the second best score in the event among both teams was Melrose freshman Grace Gentile, who scored an 8.0. Melrose was manned in the event by Gentile, Olivia Hitchman, Caroline Dell Isola, Grace Burke, Sophia Weissman and Lucy Hannon. Melrose closed the door on Winchester in the floor exercise behind the work of Caroline Dell Isola, Sofia Pitcher, Katherine Carney, Sofia Weissman, Lucy Hannon and Grace Burke. Melrose dominated Winchester 33.05-30.5, and saw top scores from Grace Burke (8.45) and Sophia Weissmen (8.4) while Katherine Carney earned points in the event with a 7.95.
Overall, it was a sound win for Melrose, who seemed to shine competing at home. “They did so much better than our opening week,” says coach Valdez. “I was so happy to have Taylor [Pesce] back to competing in vault and I thought the vault was solid and their floor routines really came along since last week.”
Still, Melrose’s goal is to increase their average team scores to around 135. And Valdez admits, despite starting three weeks late to the season, the team is showing progress each practice after another. “I’d love to see a little more consistency, especially on the beam. Practice makes perfect. It’s a work in progress.” Melrose hopes to make it two wins in a row when they hit the road on Saturday to take on the Spartans.
