Felines Take Fourth at Team Championships | The Spectator

Sophomore Anna Ruta warms up on bars.

Senior and co-captain of Stuyvesant girls? gymnastics team, the Felines,? Shelby Hochberg, who was invited to compete in the individual championships on Sunday, February 12, proudly watched her team compete at girls? gymnastics PSAL Team Championships, held at the Aviator Sports and Recreation Gymnastics Center in Brooklyn on?Thursday, February 9.

Hochberg tore the top of her tibia and meniscus at a meet against Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School on Friday, January 13 when she blew a landing and landed on one leg. Her injury has had a significant impact on the team?s overall performance. Despite the the Felines?? many talented members, Hochberg was one of, if not the best, all-around gymnast. Her scores were comparable to some of the PSAL?s top gymnasts?she consistently scored above 24 out of a maximum of 40 points. Although she couldn?t compete, Hochberg fulfilled her role as a captain by motivating, mentoring, and cheering on her determined teammates. ?I am so incredibly proud of the entire team. They are amazing and resilient,? Hochberg said.

The Felines and their coach Vasken Choubaralian came into the season with confidence. ?[Going into the season] my expectations were high because I saw that I had a lot of girls who had a lot of potential and girls who had gotten stronger from last year,? Choubaralian said.

The Felines began their championship performance on the uneven parallel bars. The team started off strong: some of the girls even exceeded their own expectations. Sophomore Ruihan Zhao, who had been practicing the flyaway dismount, made a maneuver off of the top bar that was very difficult to land and stuck her landing perfectly. Although the Felines performed well on the bars, they were disappointed with the scores they received from the judges.

The Felines carried their momentum from the parallel bars all the way through the rest of their meet, including the balance beam, the floor exercise, and the vault. Although they did well in some individual events and finished fourth out of eight overall at the event, this was an average performance for the team.

Both sophomore Doris Chen and junior Victoria Stempel looked very sharp during their warm-ups for the vault and balance beam, respectively. However, neither gymnast performed quite as well as she had hoped during the actual event. Stempel was disappointed with her performance because she fell off the beam several times.

Chen, who had consistently improved on the vault throughout the season, having raised her score by an impressive 1.85 points, suffered an injury while doing the straddle vault. She landed on the wrong leg, sprained her knee, and left the complex on crutches. Despite her injury, Chen showed strength by getting up after her fall and saluting the judge.

?It was really unfortunate how Doris had such an incredible season and then ended up hurting her knee at our last meet. But it showed a lot of dedication and heart when she stood up and saluted the judge, right after her fall regardless of the pain she was in,? sophomore Anna Ruta said.

The main reason for the Felines? success in the former three events was the team?s courage and confidence, which propelled the gymnasts? skill sets to unforeseeable heights. ?We can do a lot more than they think, and a lot more than I thought. We had a lot of girls who had a lot of heart, and who were not afraid to try new, difficult skills.? Choubaralian said.

According to the Felines, it was a very emotional performance as they held on to their fourth place title. The Felines were performing without one of their best gymnasts, Shelby, and were looking forward to move up the ranks from the previous years. The Felines were looking to displace Cardozo and capture third place in the championship.

However, Shelby was content and even lauded the team?s performance. According to a few team members, Shelby let out a few tears when the announcer announced that Stuyvesant had placed fourth. The whole team was proud of their finish.

However, Choubaralian seemed a bit disappointed with the team?s performance given its potential. ?I think today they didn?t meet their own expectations, luckily, it was enough to keep fourth place,? Choubaralian said.

Although the Felines? season is over, they have several gymnasts who were invited to perform in the individual championships. Hochberg was invited, but will not be able to perform due to her injury. Ruta, who had an extremely impressive season and performed in every event at the Team Championships, was also invited to perform in all the events. Juniors Zoffi and Elska Kaczmarek also qualified for all events. Sophomore Mika Schweizer qualified for the uneven bars event, and junior Florence Gafanovich qualified for the floor event. These gymnasts performed on Sunday, February 12.

Choubaralian is already very optimistic about the next season. The team?s core, except for Hochberg and senior Doris Tang, will remain intact and even further develop their skill set.

?I think our team will be stronger next year. I have a good core set of juniors this year and they?re going to do much better as seniors. I also have a lot of sophomores who really impressed me,? Choubaralian said.

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Source: http://stuyspectator.com/2012/03/11/felines-take-fourth-at-team-championships/

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