Young gymnasts around the Island met at the Island Gymnastics facility in West Tisbury to compete for the first in-season meet since COVID-19.
Island Gymnastics — a place for Islanders to learn the sport — brought back its annual in-house Harvest Fest Gymnastics Meet.
Sixteen gymnasts ages 6 to 14 split into four teams of four. As for the champions, the Silver Sweet Potatoes came in first place, the Gold Honeycrisps earned second, the Silver Cranberries took third, and the Bronze Pumpkins came in fourth.
Three divisions categorized different skill levels for the competitors, with gold, silver, and bronze.
The Silver Sweet Potatoes had two brand-new team members; 9-year old Virginia Wallace and 8-year old Nora Nelligan. Their scores of 8.95 and 9.0 were key to securing the victory for the Sweet Potato team.
The MVP of the Potatoes was silver division competitor 8-year-old Kira Agnew. Not only was Agnew’s overall score of 37.05 the highest in the entire meet, but she also scored the highest in the uneven bars category with a score of 9.7, and the highest on the beam with a score of 9.2.
The Gold Honeycrisps finished in second place by only 0.6 points. Eight-year-old Kaya Tucker was instrumental to their success, taking second place on the beam, bars, and floor categories with scores of 9.1, 9.1, and 9.2.
For individuals, 12-year-old Zoey Lundgren won the gold division with an all-around score of 36.6. Her winning 9.45 floor routine was the highest of the entire meet. Second place all-around went to 14-year-old Ruby Russell. Russell also took first place on bars, with a score of 9.0, and second place on floor and beam, with scores of 9.3 and 8.7. Third place all-around went to first-time competitor 12-year-old Gabriela Barros, who put up solid scores in every event.
In a surprise to all, the youngest competitor in the gold division, 11-year-old Kinsley Tarter, posted the highest vault score in the meet, with a score of 9.35. Tarter, alongside Estelle Mason, Emanuella Aguilar, Abella Jiminez, and Sophia Perriera, was a key contributor to the success of the Silver Cranberries team, who placed third on the day.
The Bronze Pumpkins were the fourth and final team on the day, but there were some standout performances. Eight-year-old Avery Moore tallied a formidable score of 35.55 for the all-around category, earning her first in the bronze division, as well as first in beam, bars, and vault, with scores of 9.0, 9.3, and 8.75.
Second place all-around in the bronze division went to 7-year-old Deirdre Scott, who scored first on floor with an 8.7, and put on solid scores on the beam. Tied for third place in the bronze division for the Bronze Pumpkins team was 6-year-old Luna Cost and newcomer 7-year-old Jordan Donaroma.
