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01/16/2023 01:20 PMComing off of a top 10 placement in the postseason a year ago, the Valley Regional gymnastics team is looking to one-up themselves with an even higher finish this winter. But more importantly towards building to that aspiration, the Warriors have emerged as a tremendously in-sync squad within all facets.
The Valley squad finished in eighth place at the Class S State Championship last season. The Warriors recorded a team score of 125.790 points on their way to placing eighth at Jonathan Law High School on Feb. 26.
Monica Bauer, who shares the coaching duties for the Warriors with Carl Cavrell, noted that this team has been nothing but the quintessential pleasure to guide. She stated that the girls come to compete and work daily with nothing less than the brightest smiles on their faces and the deepest determination to improve and succeed over the day prior.
“All of the girls work really well together,” said Bauer on her team. “This is a great team to work with. They are so easy to work with; they are happy to be at the gym every day and have such a good team spirit.”
The Warriors sport a four-member senior class within the gym this winter. Julie Hartt serves a key non-competing role as the Valley Team Manager. Within the walls of competition, Valley boasts all-around athlete Kendra Cika, along with Corallina Giuliano and Isabella Giuliano.
“Julie is really dedicated; she’s been with the team since freshman year in some capacity. She is a great leader who communicates well, and she is good with getting information out to the team while being well organized,” said Coach Bauer. “She has stepped up in her leadership role. She has been really helpful with the freshmen in showing them the ropes. Isabella competed for Flip Flop Gymnastics as a freshman and sophomore. She took her junior year off, but she’s come back quickly this year and has been great for us. Corallina competes in the all-around as well, and she knows what to expect.”
For the junior class, lone individual Sienna Joplin maintains a pivotal occupation for the program as Hartt’s assistant, in grooming her to take over as manager next winter. Sophomores Holly Board and Corina Pagliuco have also proven themselves to be diverse point producers for the Warriors across several events.
“Sienna has been great with helping out Julie. She has been with the team her whole time at Valley, and it’s great to have her work with Julie to take over that role next season,” Bauer said. “Holly has done well for this team this year in competing in the three events of bars, balance beam, and the vault. Corina does all four events for us. She is very flexible and does pretty lines when she does the floor. She scores well on the beam, and we really count on her to contribute towards the team score.”
Bauer also boasted the abilities of a freshman trio of Sadie Iselin, Kaleigh Dugan, and Bethany Erkkila, as they have hit the high school gymnastics ground running.
“Sadie is a really nice girl who works really hard. She is doing really well, and she is one to watch going forward,” Coach Bauer said. “Kaleigh and Bethany are definitely strong competitors. Kaleigh competes throughout the year. Bethany took last year off from gymnastics, but she has gotten right back to it this year and is doing really well.”
In terms of team targets for the year, Bauer boasted that the out-of-competition portion of them has pretty much been hit thus far in building a close, small, but tight-knit unit. She added that the new objective now is getting the girls accustomed to the regulations and prerequisites of each and every meet.
“The team cohesion and chemistry is fantastic already,” Bauer said. “All of the girls work really well together and support each other. Now, it is about letting them know about the rules and requirements for each event and getting stronger individually and as a team within meets.”
The Warriors may appear to have a small roster when you look at the sheer numbers, though the team number does supplant Valley past a crucial threshold for added squad flexibility during dual meets. Regardless of the team’s size, Bauer concluded that the teamwork has been top-notch from Day One and will only continue to be enhanced.
“We have more than six members on the team, so we can compete with six girls and have four of their scores count in meets,” Coach Bauer said. “It is really nice to have that option for our team this year. The girls work really well together, and they really are getting stronger as a team.”
Valley’s home meets are contested at Flip Flop Gymnastics. For the remainder of the Warriors’ dual-meet portion of its season schedule, they will host Haddam-Killingworth/Morgan/Westbrook Co-op, Hamden, and Mercy on Saturday, Jan. 21 at 2:15 p.m. They then travel to Polson Middle School in Madison on Tuesday, Jan. 24 at 7 p.m. to face host Hand, along with the H-K Co-op, and Mercy. The same four schools reconvene against Polson for a 7 p.m. meet on Tuesday, Feb. 14. Valley then concludes meet season at home on Monday, Feb. 20, at 10 a.m. versus Mercy and the H-K Co-op.
The team division state championships will take place at Jonathan Law High School in Milford on Saturday, Feb. 25. The State Open Championship will be held at New Milford High School on Saturday, March 4 at 10 a.m.