FeedsCanton tumblers ready for new season
Normally when the Canton gymnastics team opens the season with its Red & White inter-squad match between the best and the rest it’s just that—a two-team scrimmage.
This year there were so many gymnasts with potential star power, Coach John Cunningham had to split the 35-girl roster into three teams, making it the Red, White & Black Meet this season.
Cunningham uses official judges at the meet to acclimate his gymnasts to what the judges are looking for and for the judges to help calibrate their scoring before the official season kicks off.
The event is meant to be competitive—to see which cream rises to the top—but the scores don’t count for anything.
Cunningham was impressed with all three teams.
“I think we are going to be really good this year,” he said. “We only lost one senior, Jesse Murray, and I have a lot of good girls coming back. And I had a lot of girls that used to do club gymnastics that joined the team this year.”
The Red team finished first with 127.025, the White with 125.2 followed by the Black with 118.925.
The team is made up of 10 seniors, nine juniors, 10 sophomores and six freshmen.
The seniors include Kate Carrol, who scored a 7.25 on bars during the meet; Lizzie Gallagher; Sarah Kopchia; Kathy Marion, who finished with a 27.45 all-around score; Sam O’Flynn, one of the team’s captains who scored a 7.6 on vault; Heather Popoff; Olivia Roraback; Amanda Smith; Jasmine Stallworth; and Olivia Stephens, another captain who missed the meet due to an injury.
Junior Mallory Hudak is one of the top gymnasts returning this season as the team’s third captain. She placed second in the all around with a hefty 32.95. She scored an 8.85 on floor, an 8.2 on vault, an 8.05 on bars and a 7.85 on beam.
Other juniors include Kylie Hakala, who scored an 8.2 on vault during the Red White & Black; Katelyn Rutherford, who scored an 8.35 on vault; Jackie Bogdanski; Chelsea Husband; Catherine Sanctorum; Whitney Slottke; Brittany Vance; and Catherine Wells.
The strongest group coming back is the sophomore class.
After a stellar freshman tour, Robyn Piwowar is back. She won the all-around with an impressive 34.575. She was tops in the vault with an 8.8 and scored 8.75s on bars and floor and had an 8.15 on beam.
Returning sophomore Cathy Huang placed third all around with 32.025. Her high mark was an 8.875 on floor. She added an 8.6 on vault.
Kali Pierce racked up 31.1 points in the meet. She scored an 8.3 and an 8.25 on floor and vault respectively. Brittany Granowicz showed promise, scoring an 8.35 on vault and an 8.1 on floor. Sam Bufaord added an 8.2 on beam and an 8.1 on vault.
Other sophomores include Dayne Baugh, Leah Hunter, Shelbey Roberts, Michelle Saucedo and Taniya Smiley.
As young as they might be, the freshmen crew has already made an impact on the team.
Marina Milad, Alex Hamric, Lauren Martin and Alison Butala all placed in the top nine last Tuesday with scores of 30.95, 30.8, 29, and 24.8 respectively.
Kim Tuttle and Leigh Collins round out the freshmen group.
Cunningham hopes his team can get back to the state tournament, where it placed fourth last year. The Lady Chiefs scored a team-high 143.5 at the regional meet to make it to the finals last year.
“I know that KLAA is the strongest league in the state and the region is the strongest region in the state,” Cunningham said. “I want to be in the top three in the KLAA and the top three in the region and states is a long way away and we’ll have to see what happens.”
Canton officially started the season at the annual Vassar Invitational meet on Saturday.
The Lady Chiefs are back in action when they host neighboring rival Salem at 6 p.m. at Plymouth High School on Tuesday, Jan. 6. Canton hosts its annual invitational at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 7.
