WAYNE – The Wayne Hills gymnastics team scored a season high to soar past crosstown rival Wayne Valley, 101.075 – 95.400, Wednesday afternoon at Wayne Hills High School.
Audrey Marnick starred for the Patriots sweeping all four apparatus plus the all-around.
Marnick’s stellar night began on the vault where she competed a tuck Tsukahara, a vault comprising of a round off (similar to a cartwheel) onto the vault, and a back tuck (similar to a back flip) off of it. Marnick has competed the vault at the club level, but Hills’ meet against Valley was the first time she competed it in a high school competition.
After taking a seat on the landing and scoring an 8.6 on her first vault attempt–a score that would have been good enough to qualify her for sectionals on the vault–Marnick, after a quick exchange with her coach, decided to take her second attempt. On her second attempt, Marnick was able to land her vault and score a 9.075, earning her first place on the apparatus for the meet.
Wayne Hills Head Coach Cathy Peter said that that competitiveness is normal for Marnick.
“She works so hard to improve her routines,” Peter said of Marnick. “She added a new jump on floor to add bonus to her floor routine also today. She is always working on improving her routines on all of the events.”
Finishing behind Marnick on vault, teammate Miyuki Dan secured second with an 8.775, and Wayne Valley’s Bianca Riccobono took third with an 8.675.
Marnick, again, led the way on the uneven bars scoring an 8.4 to take first place. Riccobono finished behind Marnick in second with an 8.225 and Hills’ Karina Bhargava rounded out the top three on bars with an 8.125.
Wayne Hills swept the top three spots on the balance beam with not a single Patriot gymnast scoring below an 8.0. Marnick led the way again with an 8.5 and was followed by Reagan Donofrio and Alexis Cardona who finished tied for second with an 8.3 each.
Marnick finished her afternoon on floor, where she almost broke the 9.0 barrier for the second time during the meet, scoring an 8.9 to take the top spot on the apparatus. Wayne Valley gymnasts took second and third place on floor with Riccobono coming in second with an 8.5, and Olivia Collins finishing third with an 8.275.
Marnick led all competitors in the all-around with a 34.875, Riccobono came in second with a 33.100, and Hills’ Izabella Ortiz finished third with a 32.300.
Wayne Valley’s 101.075 marks the third time this year, and third time in a row, that the Patriots have reached the century mark.
Coach Peters said that it has been a while since her team has reached 100 points in a meet and that they are very excited to be scoring in the 100s again.
“I tell the girls that I don’t expect their routines to be at their highest level in the early season meets,” Peters said of her team’s improvement over the course of the year. “We have been slowly adding harder skills to improve their scores. Our goal is to be at our best for the big competition–counties, leagues, and sectionals.”
Wayne Hills will next compete at the Passaic County Championship at West Milford, where they will be seeking their sixth consecutive title, while Wayne Valley is scheduled to finish their regular season today against the Academy of the Holy Angels in Ridgewood.
Of Note
During their meet, Wayne Hills and Wayne Valley raised $575 for Alex’s Lemonade Stand to help fight childhood cancer.
* Wayne Hills’ Audrey Marnick vaults during the Patriots’ meet against Wayne Valley. (Photo courtesy Christopher Shannon) *
