Irvington’s gymnastics team has remained undefeated this whole season, placing first at Mission Valley Athletic League (MVAL) finals.

Co-Captain Annie Elizabeth Tseng (11) thought that their best meet was against Mission, a longtime rival.

“They’re always the team to beat, especially since we unfairly lost to them last year,” she said. “Hard work throughout the season made our team successful this year, along with coach’s great coaching and drive for us to succeed. She always encouraged us to do more everyday and that all our hard work would pay off in the end.”

The team did not have a coach until late in the season, so practices started later in August, while in previous years the team started workouts and conditioning in late July or early August.

The team trained after school each day from 5-7 p.m. at Washington High School. They split up into JV, Varsity, and Varsity Elite based on skill level and event difficulty and completed different assignments on different events during practice.

Co-Captain Claire Stastka (11) thought that their success was due to more training, though they could still improve.

“Everyone was more confident throughout the season from more practice,” she said. “Some girls do or have done club gymnastics (outside of high school) so they train year round, meaning that they are more prepared for high school meets. We need to work on getting a higher skill level (harder skills) and the small details, such as straight arms legs, pointed toes, finger position, straight back, chin up.”

Gymnastic team scores are gotten from the top four scores on each event totaled for a team score, though people do get awards for personal performance.