On October 10, the Irvington Gymnastics Varsity team won first place overall in team play in the tournament, with 3rd place in vault, 1st place in bars (tied with American), 3rd in beam, 1st in Floor, and 2nd place in all-around. The meettournament was steadily paced, and Irvington did quite well with the exception of a few mistakes.

Irvington started off strong by beginning with floor routines. Each routine was mixed with simple dance moves, layouts, and tumbling passes. Shouts of encouragement were made by the team members as each individual gymnast went up to perform their routine.

Next was vault, and again, Irvington had a strong play. Although there were a few slip-ups, it didn’t seem to falter their outcome. The bars were next and proved to be an obstacle in their path. While performing on the bars, quite a few mistakes were made. Christy Lee (10), for example, started off in a good position, but she lost her rhythm and fell onto the mat. Even some of the more experienced gymnasts had issues, like Maansa Kavuri (12), who despite her flawless execution of the routine on the bars itself, stumbled a bit on her landing, which may have affected her score. This was a recurring theme in many of the bar routines.

The struggle carried on in the next and final eventsection of the meetgame, the beam. Again, even the experienced gymnasts tended to have some difficulty with the beam, with mishaps like losing their balance and footing when conducting pivot turns and leaps; however, as the routine went on, and they managed to make a comeback. The beginners also impressed, with their steady balance and smoothly performed handstands.

At the end of the tournament, Irvington ended up on the first place podium, with American at a close second, and Mission at third.  

“This is the very first meet in which all the players were to compete in all 4 events,” said Coach Kristen Buehler when reflecting on the difficulties that the team had. “So a lot of practice was needed and it was a little chaotic, but overall it was fun.”   

Commenting on the differences between this year and the events of the 2017-2018 season, Captain Maansa Kavuri stated, “We had three really good members that carried us through in the past year, so this year we really had to pull ourselves through this year, and it paid off. We also practiced outside the gym a lot, so we had to get used to the equipment.”

The next meet will occur on Oct. 19 at Washington High School.