Snow day hampers Lady Trojan gymnasts

eschickler@bcnnew.com

Practice makes a difference and the Weston gymnastics team believes the lack thereof contributed to its scoring only 89.35 points on Friday. All afterschool activities at Weston -- which includes athletic practices -- were cancelled the day before because of the snowstorm that morning, the Lady Trojans attributed their lower score in its home losses to Fairfield Ludlowe (119.75) and Fairfield Warde (103.65) to the missed practice. Ludlowe and Warde raised their records to 5-5 and 4-6, respectively. Weston dropped to 1-9.

"Weston had an off day on Friday, especially on beam," Lady Trojan Coach Salina Tavella said. "It probably had a lot to do with not practicing on Thursday afternoon."

Tavella was referring to Weston scoring 14.9 on the balance beam, where it suffered many falls. Sophomore Alexis Gandal led the Lady Trojans on beam with a 5.8 and was their top all-around performer (26.65). Gandal was sixth overall on the uneven bars (6.7) and was pleased with her floor routine (6.9).

"I had new tricks [on beam and floor] and I had fun doing them," Gandal said. "I'm comfortable with my tricks. I could have done better but I'm happy with them. I wish we had school on Thursday so I could have practiced the routines."

She led Weston on vault (7.25) by sticking her handspring half twist.

"I just tried as hard as I could and I listened to my coach's corrections," Gandal said.

The Lady Trojans had their highest score on vault (27.25) and floor exercise (25.2). They continue to improve on bars (22.0).

Freshman Andrea Janis had an all-around score of 26.65 and placed third overall on bars (7.5).

"I tried my hardest and I've been practicing on bars," Janis said. "I did the routine I did at my old gym and it was easier for me to connect things."

Janis placed third overall on floor (7.3) and was strong on vault (7.0). She scored a 4.1 on beam while trying more difficult tricks. "I added a new tumbling pass and I tried to point my toes and keep my legs straight," Janis said.

Senior captain Kailie Mann (20.2) and freshman Meredith Marcus (16.1) also competed as all-arounders for Weston. Mann did her best on vault (6.8) and floor (5.8) and Marcus excelled on vault (6.2) and floor (4.7). Sophomore Lena Romaldini competed on three events for the Lady Trojans and did her best on floor (5.2).

"I think having the day of practice would have made a difference but we did the best we could considering the circumstances," Mann said.