Vikings Gymnasts Defeated by South Side

All through the evening the gymnastics team put up respectable numbers competing against South Side in Rockville Centre.  

The Vikings scored 7.6 and 7.85 on vault; two 6.8's on the beam; 7.0 and 7.7 on floor. But it wasn't nearly enough. The South Side High School Cyclones won every event, finishing with 139.65 points to Port's 129.65. The 10-point loss was Port's first defeat of the season, but it came against an experienced, polished South Side team competing in their home gym at South Side Middle School.

Quote: "They're the best team in the Conference," Vikings Coach Melissa Havern said of Rockville Centre.

Turning Point: The Cyclones proved themselves with one great routine after another.  In the closest event, vault, Port's first three vaulters outscored South Side's by almost a full point.  But the Cyclones' final three vaulters nailed their routines, scoring 7.85, 8.0, and 8.05.  Port's top vaulter, Jessica Medaglia, had a 7.85 – the same score that won her the event two weeks ago in Cold Spring Harbor. Against South Side, though, that score was only good enough for a third-place tie.  As a team, the Vikings managed only 37.55 in the vault, a disappointing number in the one event that they had a chance to win.  Even with their three strong vaults at the end, South Side only won by 0.85 of a point.

Heroes: On the uneven bars, Jessica Medaglia again demonstrated her strength by winning that event with a score of 6.9.  Candace Yap finished third in bars with 6.2. The team result was 29.9 for South Side to 27.4 for Port Washington.

South Side pulled away for good in the balance beam, outscoring Port by 34.9 to 30.4.  Individually, Allison Stewart and Carly Grieco each had 6.8 to finish in a third-place tie with South Side's best gymnast, Sydney Duncan. Amanda Matos of South Side won the balance beam with her 7.6 routine.

Key Stat: Sydney Duncan, who hadn't won any of her first three events, burst across the floor with a tumbling display that earned her a score of 7.9 – and the all-around title for the meet with 29 points. Jessica Medaglia finished third in the floor exercise with 7.7, but did not contend for the all-around as she only competed in three of the four events. South Side won the floor 36.45 to 34.3.

With the season almost half over, Port Washington is still in good position in Conference II, and expects to come back stronger in their upcoming meets. 

Who's Next: Their next meet is on Monday, Jan. 10 at North Shore High School at 6 p.m.