Defending All-Around Champ Pellegrino set to Repeat for Lakeland/Panas/Putnam Valley
Mahopac, Ossining, Somers/Hen Hud Hope to Challenge for Local Supremacy
By Ray Gallagher
Examiner Sports Editor@Directrays
Mahopac gymnastics Coach Vin Collins has graced the Section 1 circuit for 42 years, winning a handful of sectional titles, training scores of All-Americans and doing as much for local gymnasts than perhaps anybody ever has.
His 2021 Mahopac team is poised to follow the footsteps of those before them, but this will be anything but a normal year for gymnasts due to COVID-19 restrictions that will prohibit a Section 1 and NYSPHSAA tournament. At this point in time, gymnastics meets are expected to be “live” — not virtual — like most Section 1 swim meets this winter, so, barring a last-minute change, face-to-face competition, with punctual results, will be a real thing starting this week.
“There will be no sectional tournament this year,” Collins said. “We will have some type of tournament at season’s end, but that is to be determined.”
It’s expected that Section 1 will do something similar to what they did in the fall with regionalized field hockey and soccer tournaments, but for now local gymnasts are just happy to be in a gym with mats and apparatus flooded with competitors. Local gymnasts are stoked to get started this week.
“It is very exciting to start competing finally,” Hen Hud senior Taylor Breeding admitted. “This season was very unpredictable due to Covid, so it is exhilarating that the season has begun, and we are on track to compete. As varsity gymnasts, we work very hard to perfect our skills on each event; vault, bars, beam and floor. I think many people, who are not familiar with the sport, do not fully understand the time and work we put into gymnastics. That is why I am very honored to represent my school in this sport and show how great it is. I am hoping that this season will be a good one despite the effects of Covid. It was very upsetting to know that there will not be a states this year since we were all looking forward to being chosen for the state team and competing at the state competition at the end of the season. Yet, we are happy to receive the opportunity to compete, and we are all ready to show the judges what we have been practicing. Working as a team and supporting one another is always the key to a successful meet, and I am thrilled that I get to spend my last year in varsity gymnastics alongside such amazing gymnasts.”
Coaches are excited, too, and are hoping to avoid the COVID-related postponements we saw last fall.
“It is nice being back in the gym; the team is working very hard,” Collins said of his Indians, who were second to Lakeland/Panas/Putnam Valley last year, 175.875 to 167.425. “It’s a shorter season this year, but everyone is anxious to start competition. Our goals are the same every year: to qualify for the NYSPHSAA Scholar Athlete Award; be successful as a team and individually throughout the season. This year our primary goal is to stay healthy and attempt to compete as often as we can. We have a solid core of veterans returning and an eager group of rookies to comprise this year’s team of 14 gymnasts.”
LAKELAND/PANAS/PUTNAM VALLEY is in a very similar mode as the defending champions; locked and loaded with the section’s top returnee in Putnam Valley senior Caitlin Pellegrino, the defending All-Around champion. Last year’s haul included four first-place medals as Pellegrino won the vault with a score of 9.4, the uneven bars with a score of 8.75 and the floor exercise with a score of 9.525. She also took fourth place on the balance beam, the only event she didn’t win, with a score of 9.15, raising her all-around score to a section-best 36.825. She enters the 2021 season as the one to beat.
She will be joined by the likes of state qualifier Samantha Flores, Hayley Madden, state qualifier Emily Quinn, Izzy Albano and Olivia Marricco, a potential All-Around challenger. The unit comes with both great experience and promise. Working out of Dynamic Gymnastics in Mohegan Lake, this well-coached unit is in good hands.
“The team looks pretty good,” said L/P/PV Coach Sorin Cepoi, once an international star on the gymnastics circuit. “We have lost (injured) Veronica Rosario, but we have some key additions. The one to watch this season is the newcomer Olivia Marricco, who’s coming on very strong. We’re looking forward to the start of competitions and I’m sure we will have a great season again.”
MAHOPAC’s top returners include fifth-year senior Jamison Castrataro, a four-time All-American and four-time NYS qualifier. She will be joined by All-American senior Nicole Giannetta, sophomore and three-time All-American Lia Graap, senior Rachel Romero, junior Juliette LeBlanc, freshman Alessia Gristina, sophomore Jade Paciullo, junior Kaylie Ann Hammond and senior Lesly Cely.
Keep an eye on Lexi Castrataro, a promising seventh-grader and terrific All-Around gymnast.
The Indians will open up this Wednesday against Ossining and Suffern, which features 2019 sectional champion Samantha Greenhut, plus Ava Greenhut.
Another merged team with some legit talent is the Hen Hud/Somers/Yorktown/John Jay CR/Croton/Briarcliff club that features Hen Hud’s beam specialist Taylor Breeding, the first Hen Hud gymnast to qualify for New York State Championships since Kyla Palombini (1997), and Somers’ state qualifier Emma Lusthaus, who
excels on vault.
“I don’t know if any of our girls can overpass Caitlin Pellegrino in the All-Around competition,” said Coach Sorin Cepoi, a former Romanian competitor with a worldwide rep, which earned her place in the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame. “We have lots of new girls this season. I’m not sure who is more promising yet because we’ve just had a few practices and I will have to wait for the first competitions to see them perform.”
OSSINING returns senior captains Meagan Ryan and Cruz Vernon to lead the way.
“It’s still early in the season but we do have our top returning gymnasts this year and both are ready to lead the team with their experience in competition and their consistency and commitment to the sport of gymnastics,” Pride Coach Sandra Mitchell said.
Additional veterans include sophomore Ashley Lovastik, sophomore Adrianna Switnicki, and freshman Carolena Thompson.
“They are also gearing up to show their maturity in the sport of gymnastics this season,” the coach said.
New to the team is seventh grader Nina Mori, Charlotte Doto, sophomore Rebecca McMahon and our two additional male gymnasts in Aaron Song and Simon Fleischer.
“They are all looking forward to a complete season as we all make adjustments to our new way of practicing with masks and eventually competing in person or virtually if needed. “O-Pride”is here in Ossining and evident with the motivation I see in these gymnasts eyes. We will make it a great season no matter what comes our way.”
BREWSTER will give it a go behind Erica Hamel, Bella Laluna, Chloe Lubrano, Sammi Miller, Emily Taylor and Anaya Marta under Coach Vin Savastano.
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.
Visit Ray’s author bio page for more details. Also read Ray’s archived work here and his Direct Rays column here.
