A strong combined effort from several top performers helped the Jamesville-DeWitt/F-M girls gymnastics team earn the large-school championship during Friday’s Section III championship meet at Valley Gymnastics.
When the team scores were added up, J-D/F-M had 140.15 points, well clear of runner-up Baldwinsville’s total of 123.85 points on the team side. ESM/Liverpool earned third place among small-school teams with 123.0 points.
On the individual side, New Hartford’s Jensen Todd was the top all-around gymnast at the event, earning 37.75 points. That included a 9.55 on the uneven bars and 9.50 on the floor, with a 9.425 vault and 9.3 beam routine. She won every apparatus except the beam, where Whitesboro’s Taylor Bushey prevailed with 9.525.
J-D/F-M gymnasts did well, too, led by Taylor Fishkin, whose total of 36.80 all-around points was second only to Todd, while Ana Dieroff was fourth with 34.20 points, just ahead of Anyi Liebler-Bendix (34.175 points) in fifth place.
Fishkin was second to Todd on the floor with a 9.2 routine, with Liebler-Bendix getting 8.85 for third placeand Moira Kurak (8.8) edging Dieroff (8.7) for fourth place. Moving to the beam, Fiskin posted 9.15 to finish third, ahead of East Syracuse Minoa/Liverpool’s Alicia Pennizotto (8.9) in fourth place and Dieroff (8.3) in fifth.
Staying consistent, Fishkin was third on both the vault (9.3) and uneven bars (9.15), while Dieroff took fourth place on the vault with 8.9 and had 8.3 on uneven bars as Liebler-Bendix finished fourth with another 8.9. Kurak got to fifth place on the vault with 8.65.
Moving to Level 2, J-D/F-M’s Rachel Wells was fourth, with 32.975 all-around points, as New Hartford’s Kennedy Massoud roared to 36.55 points and won on all four individual apparatus, scoring 9.375 on the beam, 9.35 on the floor, 9.125 on the vault and 8.7 on uneven bars.
Wells got to second on the beam with an 8.85, while Nina Avery scored 8.7 on the floor. Mia Potamianos stepped up with an 8.85 on the vault to finish runner-up behind Massoud as ESM/Liverpool’s Tommaso Mondovi picked up 8.2 on the bars. At Level 3, J-D/F-M’s Andi Hunt was fourth on the beam with 7.7 as teammate Hannah Fox was fifth on uneven bars.
Due to their top-five finishes on individual apparatus, Fishkin, Dieroff, Liebler-Bendix, Potamianos, Penizotto and Wells all advanced to the Feb. 27 state championship meet at Shaker High School in suburban Albany, with Kurak serving as an alternate.
