A 5th For Blue Wave Gymnasts At CIACs

The team headed into the February 29 CIAC Divisional Championships at Jonathan Law High School in Milford, CT, seeded fifth out of the eight Class M teams and facing stiff competition. Unsurprisingly, the Blue Wave gymnasts stayed the course and held their place. The 128.475 they scored - a mere .15 points shy of fourth place Killingly/Putnam/Tourtellotte (KPT) high schools’ 128.625 - put them just 3.95 points behind the 132.425 that brought Fairfield Warde third. The biggest upset occurred when third seed New Milford edged out first seed Wilton to win the championship meet, 134.8 to 133.925.

On an individual level, Darien gymnasts outperformed many of their rivals, notably freshman Olivia Perkins. Sprinting toward the horse, she took it head-on and stuck a tsuk pike on vault that won her the meet’s 9.025 top vault score. Co-captain Lana Schmidt’s soaring half-on half-off 8.7 twist added to Perkins’s numbers. Co-captain Kerry McDermott’s smooth and determined 8.2, her best vault of the season, and an action-packed 8.175 fired off by junior Lauren Grandon, meant that the Blue Wave tied Fairfield Warde for first in vault at the meet with a shared 34.1 score.
Darien placed sixth overall on bars and seventh on beam and floor. In addition to her vault win, Perkins collected fourth on bars. Co-captain Schmidt grabbed eighth on beam and fifteenth on floor. Both gymnasts progress to the CIAC Winter Championships (State Opens) March 7 at New Milford High School in New Milford, CT. Perkins competes on bars and vault, Schmidt on vault, beam, and floor.

“I’m excited to have the opportunity to go to Opens,” said Schmidt. “I hope to maintain consistency and do solid routines.” Schmidt, Perkins, and sophomore Maggie Russell represented the team as all-around competitors this meet, earning 33.225, 33.675, and 29.925 respectively.
In the personal best category, freshman Mia MacDonald turned in a 6.95 on bars that reflected her will to improve and dedication to the team this season. Co-captain McDermott hit her biggest bars score (6.6) as well as vault score this year. Junior Lucy Collins’s chiseled delicacy on floor flowered into a record- breaking, for her, 7.95, while Russell’s skills matched to a sprightly hoedown-themed soundtrack resulted in an 8.15, her highest floor points for 2019-2020.

On beam, Sophomore Sommer Schmidt performed a double back walkover with her usual rock-steadiness, producing a 7.7 that contributed to the team’s overall score. Freshman Abby Kissko’s sprang a fabulous 7.925 vault, while Alex Decsi, also a freshman, swung through a switch kip on bars that did the team credit.

“Today confirms that if I persevere and work hard then nothing, not even an injury like the one I just recovered from, can stop me from doing what I want to do,” said co-captain McDermott. Her reflective moment was bittersweet, though, because Saturday was her last meet as a high-schooler. She and c-captain Schmidt have been teammates since elementary school on Darien’s YMCA Gymnastics club team.

“This was a wonderful meet for Kerry and Lana. What a nice way to finish with their teammates,” said coach Judy Zakim. Zakim could not be prouder of both of them, or of the entire team. “The girls have grown so close and worked so nicely together. I’m especially proud that every member of our team was able to compete all season.”

Zakim added she looked forward to coaching top scorers Schmidt and Perkins at the 2020 CIAC Winter Championships in New Milford March 7. The CIAC’s February 29 marked the end of the season for the other Blue Wave gymnasts. If either Schmidt or Perkins qualifies at State Opens, she will make New Englands, held March 14 at the Gymnastics and Cheerleading Academy (GCA) in Fairfield, Connecticut.