Castrataro Takes Three Events, All-Around in Mahopac Opener
By Ray Gallagher
Examiner Sports Editor@Directrays
Mahopac senior Jamison Castrataro stole the show at Odyssey Gymnastics last Wednesday in the host Indians’ rout of Suffern and Ossining during Section 1’s opening day on the gymnastics circuit, and the only event she didn’t dominate (balance beam), her sister, Lexi, a seventh-grader, did.
Jamison won vault (9.3), uneven bars (9.0) and floor (9.4) while placing second on beam (9.0) to run away with the all-around competition (36.7). Lexi Castrataro, a promising upstart, staked her claim by winning beam (9.2) in her first varsity competition while taking third in vault (8.3), 6th on bars (7.15) and fifth on floor (8.75).
“It was a nice start to the season and a great team effort,” Mahopac Coach Vinny Collins said of the Indians 163.6 team score, far ahead of Suffern (149.7) and Ossining (86.15). “Jamison picked up where she finished last season and it was a solid effort all the way around. We had great efforts from Lexi and Kaitlyn (Palange), a couple of our rookies, in their first high school competition. All of our veterans – Lia, Rachel, Kaylie Ann and Jade — were solid throughout the entire competition and two more of our rookies – Cecylia, Jadyn – had competitive efforts as well.”
Mahopac will continue to gear up for the three-headed monster that is Lakeland/Panas/Put Valley, the reigning sectional champion, on Feb.10 at Dynamic Gymnastics.
Ray has 33 years experience covering and photographing local sports in Westchester and Putnam counties, including everything from Little League/Travel Baseball to varsity high school prep sports and collegiate coverage. He has been a sports editor at Examiner Media since its inception in 2007.
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