Mt. Hope gymnasts remain undefeated after narrowly defeating LaSalle — again

Story by Kristen Ray, photos by Richard W Dionne Jr
Posted 2/6/19

The Mt. Hope High School varsity gymnastics team is proving to be unstoppable this season, with another win this past Saturday, Feb. 2, against LaSalle, Coventry and North Kingstown.

Leading the …

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Mt. Hope gymnasts remain undefeated after narrowly defeating LaSalle — again

Posted

The Mt. Hope High School varsity gymnastics team is proving to be unstoppable this season, with another win this past Saturday, Feb. 2, against LaSalle, Coventry and North Kingstown.

Leading the way for the Huskies with an all-around score of 34.3 was senior Meghan Oliver, who earned the highest score of the competition with a 9.6 on floor. Following closely behind was senior Jayme Foreman who, after strong performances on both floor and beam, finished the meet with an all-around score of 34.

Senior Kaitlin Quinn excelled on floor as well, receiving a 9.25 and finishing third all-around for Mt. Hope with a 33.55. Freshmen Nora Prendergast and Reese Pavao, earning all-around scores of 33.05 and 31.8, respectively, also helped bring their team to victory, with Mt. Hope just edging out LaSalle, 135.3-133.25.

Saturday’s win boosts the undefeated Division 1 Huskies to a 7-0 record. Led by head coach Nicole Daniello, Mt. Hope has one more league meet remaining this season, held at New Generations G.A. against La Salle and North Kingstown at 6 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 10.

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The Mt. Hope High School Huskies varsity gymnastics team extended their winning streak to 6-0 this past Sunday, Jan. 27, during a league meet against South Kingstown, Rogers and La Salle held at Rhode Island College.

With an overall, all-around score of 134.25—defeating their main rival, the Rams, by just over a two-point margin—the Huskies overcame personal setbacks and achieved individual firsts on their way to victory. Senior Meghan Oliver successfully performed a shoot on bars and connected a series on beam—her first time doing so all season—while leading her team overall on both vault and floor. After also experiencing success connecting a series on the beam, senior Kaitlin Quinn challenged herself with a layout front tuck on floor. Senior Jayme Foreman tested her limits with her toughest overall skill, a back tuck on beam—an accomplishment in itself, despite being unable to keep her balance throughout the whole routine.

“It was a little heartbreaking to fall twice but I just gave it my all in all the other events and I just pushed through it,” said Miss Foreman.

Strong performances by freshmen Nora Prendergast and Reese Pavao also came to the Huskies’ aid, contributing to their relatively seamless transition from Division II to Division I this season. While it could be easy for her gymnasts to get caught up in their mistakes, head coach Nicole Daniello strives to create an encouraging, empathetic team atmosphere in order to maintain a positive outlook throughout competition.

“It makes that disappointment that you feel after you fall a little easier to get through,” she said.

Following Sunday’s win, Ms. Daniello plans to continue challenging her girls with their jumps, leaps and bonus skills throughout their routines as they continue on the path toward their fourth division championship title in a row.

“We’re in a really good spot now,” she said.

The Huskies will again take on La Salle this week in a qualifier at home on Wednesday, Jan. 30 at 7 pm and during a league meet alongside North Kingstown and Coventry at Strive Gymnastics on Saturday, Feb. 2 at 4 pm.

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