Gymnastics season ends on a sad note

MAY 5, BLAKE HIGH SCHOOL ­

After a difficult season due to the loss of key gymnasts, injuries and lack of experience, the Blair gymnastics team didn't expect to win the county meet tonight. They placed last, receiving a score of 128.65 and falling to strong teams like Bethesda-Chevy Chase, Walter Johnson and Blake. The Blake Bengals won the meet with a score of 178.25, breaking a Montgomery County record.

The most disappointing part of the meet was that Blair lost to Sherwood by only five points, which junior co-captain Rose Feinberg believes Blair could have attained if freshman Courtney Forbes had been able to perform her floor routine. Forbes was injured, but despite her injury managed to qualify for the states meet in the vault competition.

The Blazer's strongest event was the vault competition. Juniors Edra Brisbane and Elena Ramsey earned scores of 8.05 and 8.12, respectively and Forbes earned a score of 8.67. Despite some falls on the balance beam, Feinberg, Forbes, and sophomore Nicole Poor received scores of 6.2, 7.8 and 7.9, respectively. Bars, however, were the girls' biggest weakness: none of the scores were higher than five.

However, the worst news of the night came after the meet, when coach Paul Belliveau announced that this season would be his last as a Blair gymnastics coach due to his commitment as principal of the Barrie School. "It's really sad for all of us since he's always been the coach, and he's been my coach for over ten years. Paul is still going to help out though," said Feinberg.

Belliveau had nothing but positive things to say to the girls at the end of the meet. "We did great. The kids tried their hardest and made improvements. We did the best we could and we were strong all season," he said. Belliveau proudly mentioned the strong performances of first year gymnasts junior Jen Nguyen and senior Jessica Yen.