Blair pulls ahead of Bengals with one point victory

MARCH 31, NELSON H. KOBREN MEMORIAL GYMNASIUM—

The Blair's girls gymnastics team pulled off a slim victory against the Blake Bengals on March 31. The Blazers won by just one point, 151.75 to 150.75, with many individual awards as well.

Blair entered the match knowing they were up against a tough team. "This was the first meet, everything was still a little shaky in the beginning," said senior co-captain Rose Feinberg. The team was able to push ahead however and performed solidly with many first, second and third place finishes.

Junior Lisa Wong, freshman Anna Hadfield and freshman Abby Cember took second, fourth and sixth place respectively in the vault category. Although Blair's marks were not the highest in this category, they learned what they need to improve upon for next week. "It was a good meet but we definitely learned what we need to work on," said senior co-captain Raya Steinberg.

On the un-even bars, the Blazers placed well. Wong, Hadfield and junior Nicole Poor won first, third and sixth respectively. Wong outdid the Blake leaders by several tenths, ensuring a win for Blair.

The beam and the floor routine were also winners for Blair. Hadfield, Poor and Wong won sixth, fifth and third on beam and Cember, Hadfield and Wong won sixth, fifth and first for the floor routine. Their high marks contributed to Blair's surprise first win of the season.

"The win was a big surprise, it was a great way to start the season. We're a new team, we have a lot of new girls, and we started off strong," said Wong.

Wong won first place in the all-around category and teammates Hadfield and Cember joined her in fifth and sixth place respectively.

Coach Veronica Joice is thrilled with Blair's win. "I'm really proud of them. This is their first meet, everyone was really nervous. All in all, I am really proud of how they performed," she said.

While waiting for the standings to be released, former Blair gymnastics coach Paul Belliveau honored all the seniors with red and silver balloons and touching renditions of their times together. After the results were announced, Blair was pumped and ready to continue with their season.

Feinberg anticipates more wins in the future. "I'm so proud of our team right now, I'm really excited about the rest of the season."