After winning only two meets last season, the Mt. Hope gymnastics team had reason to celebrate this year,  and to look forward to the future.

The team placed third in Division II during the gymnastics state championships at Rhode Island College on Saturday. As a team the Huskies scored a 127.8. Portsmouth won the division with a score of 135.95 and Middletown took second with a score of 131.675.

“I’m so proud of this team,” said head coach Nicole Daniello. “We’ve come a long way from last season, only having two wins. Qualifying for the state championship as a team was remarkable.”

During the regular season, Mt. Hope placed first in the division with a record of 10-4, Portsmouth placed second with a record of 8-1 and Middletown placed third with a record of 7-1.

Huskies’ freshman Kara Pisasale placed fifth in the state on floor with a score of 9.0 and 11th in all around with a score of 34.15. Pisasale scored an 8.75 on vault, an 8.3 on bars and an 8.1 on beam.

Freshman Sarah Sustakowsky scored a 28.40 in all around with an 8.3 on vault, a 6.3 on bars, a 6.1 on beam and a 7.7 on floor.

“Kara and Sarah performed very well,” said Daniello. “Competing at states on a much bigger stage is very different than the regular season meets. They stepped up to the challenge and handled themselves like pros.”

Senior captains Caroline Nash and Avery Furtado also scored well for the Huskies. Nash scored a 32.90 in all around with an 8.45 on vault, an 8.10 on bars, an 8.45 on beam and a 7.9 on floor.

Furtado scored a 30.60 in all around with a 7.8 on vault, a 7.0 on bars, an 8.0 on beam and a 7.8 on floor.

“Avery Furtado and Caroline led the team not only with their scores, but with true leadership and perseverance,” Daniello said.

Madeleine St. Pierre scored a 7.10 on beam and a 7.80 on floor. Isabella Brando scored an 8.45 on vault, a 6.75 on beam and a 7.75 on floor. Maxine Scott scored a 4.70 on bars, Cassidy Areia scored a 7.70 on vault and Natalia Quezada-Grant scored a 4.50 on bars.

“We didn’t have our best performance of the season,” Daniello said, “But they all pushed through like champions. The team didn’t let mistakes get to them and fall apart.”

St. Pierre was one of the top scorers for the Huskies on beam and floor, despite an injury that she suffered earlier in the week, according to Daniello, who said she has the makings of a team captain as she heads into her senior season next year.

Brando’s score on vault was high enough to be added to the team score.

“Isabella competed on vault, beam and floor, despite being sick,” Daniello said. 

Daniello, who just finished her 12th year coaching the team, said that the future is bright for these hardworking girls, with two freshmen leaders in Pisasale (who qualified for second team All-State) and Sustakowsky, as well as a promising number of club-trained gymnasts coming up from Kickemuit Middle School, where Daniello teaches.

Daniello said she sees flashes of the same type of perseverance and maturity that she saw during an historic four-year run of state championships that the Mt. Hope gymnastics team earned earlier in her coaching career, including a year where the team moved up to Division I and took the state title among the best in Rhode Island.

“There’s definitely a buzz around high school gymnastics, which I am super excited about,” she said. “I think it’s going to happen again. I have a really good feeling about the next four years being as successful as those other years…I just kept telling the girls that qualifying as a whole team for states is unbelievable. I did not expect it to happen, but because of their perseverance, their grit, and their heart, they made it happen.”

With reports from Ethan Hartley