Gymnastics falls to 0-3

APRIL 15, WALTER JOHNSON HIGH SCHOOL

The gymnastics team fell to Walter Johnson and Springbrook in the third meet of the season. Springbrook snagged first place with a score of 163.4 and Walter Johnson followed with 154. Blair's score of 144.35 is the second highest for Blair this season.

Freshman Lisa Wong placed third in the all-around individual competition and also placed in all four events. She took third in everything except for the balance beam, where she took sixth. Yet, her performance was noticeably weaker than in previous competitions. Senior co-captain Amanda Allen attributed that decline to the inability to properly prepare. "Because of spring break, we've only had two real practices since our last meet and one of those was right after the second meet, so we really didn't do much," she said.

Coach Paul Belliveau also commented on the effect of the practice schedule on the performance and praised the squad for a good effort regardless. "After hosting the first two meets in quick succession, we only had time for one practice after the break. It's a credit to the girls that we did so well," he said.

The problems with the practice timetable came on the heels of a tiring competitive cycle. Due mainly to how the schedules worked out, the first two meets, which were both at Blair, happened within a span of four days. Belliveau referred to that hectic schedule, in addition to the break, as a major root of this latest loss and the loss in the second meet.

Another contributor to the loss at Walter Johnson was the judging, which both Allen and Belliveau feel was more stringent than in the first two competitions.

Currently the team hopes to improve on the balance beam, which posed a real hurdle in this latest competition. Wong's decline, from first place in the first two meets to sixth in this one, is mirrored by a general decline by the team as a whole. "We had a bunch of falls on the beam, but we'll fix that," said Belliveau.

The only other Blazer to place, freshman Nicole Poor took sixth on uneven bars.

The next meet will be at Sherwood on April 22 at 6 pm against Gaithersburg.