Roots gymnasts take second place |
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Members of the Roots Gymnastics Level 8 Team, which recently took second place at the State Championships are, from left: Anna Samuel, age 15; Mikaela Fairman, age 15; Mandy Benoit, age 13; Sierra DeMarinis, age 11; Payton Bellows, age 12 and Amanda Samuel, age 13. Reminder Publications submitted photo
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WESTFIELD — The girls competitive team at Roots Gymnastics Center added another chapter in its short, but already storied, history when it participated in the Level 8 Regional Gymnastics Championships in North Andover April 30 to May 1. The competition featured the very best young female gymnasts from throughout all six New England states plus New York, all of whom earned top placements during their respective state championships.
In the State Team division Payton Bellows of Southwick was crowned regional champion in the 12-year-old competition on both vault and uneven bars, with scores of 9.4 and 9.6, respectively. Amanda Samuel of East Granby, Conn., placed in the top five on vault, uneven bars and balance beam in the 13-year-old competition.
Both Bellows and Samuel were fourth in the all-around and missed the top three by less than one tenth of a point.
Mikaela Fairman, age 15 of Easthampton, scored fourth on vault and fifth on floor exercise.
All three athletes helped propel "Team Massachusetts" to a first place finish in each of their respective age divisions. Sierra DeMarinis, age 11 of Montgomery, also had a great showing of sixth on vault and ninth in the all-around in the highly competitive eight-to-11-year-old division.
In the All-Stars division, Westfield native Mandy Benoit dominated the 13-year-old competition to sweep all four of the apparatus events with scores of 9.30 on vault, 9.575 on uneven bars and 9.375 on both balance beam and floor exercise. She went on to become a five-time Regional Champion by capturing the coveted all-around title with an impressive score of 37.525.
These five Roots gymnasts qualified to Regionals during the Massachusetts State Champ-ionships on Cape Cod earlier in the month. During this event the Roots Level 8 Team finished second in the state, while their up and coming teammates in Level 7 added a host of individual accomplishments to help earn a very impressive team placement of fourth out of nearly 40 teams, only 0.3 away from the top three.
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