WHS gymnastics team celebrates Senior Night with win over Fenwick
The Winthrop High gymnastics team celebrated its recent Senior Night in appropriate fashion with a 134.65-129.75 victory over Bishop Fenwick.
“Competing with Bishop Fenwick has been special over the years, with several members from our Winthrop Gymnastics Academy club team participating on their team,” said WHS coach Peter Gobiel of the Vikings’ opponent. “This year Fenwick is coached by one of our own, Daria Howard.”
Winthrop opened the meet on bars and first up for the Vikings was senior Mellissa Cash, who turned in what Gobiel termed “a great routine to start us off.”
Eighth-grader Gaby Ilie followed with a season-high score of 8.0. “Gaby has been solid for us all season long on bars,” said coach Christa Vaccaro. “We look for her to take on more events with bigger skills next season.”
Senior Sara Jurovich put up a nics routine, scoring a 7.9. Callie Anderson hit her routine, scoring an 8.0. Senior Isabella Rice and junior Zoe Rey also turned in great routines, scoring 8.9 to tie for first place.
The balance beam was the next event for Winthrop. Charlotte Zarba hit her routine, starting the Vikings on the right track. Mellissa Cash and Isabella Rice tied, with both scoring a 7.9. Callie Anderson followed with a 7.1. Zoe Rey stayed on the beam, finishing second with a score of 8.3. Senior Julia Hurley finished her season, scoring 8.4 and joining a small fraternity of gymnasts who had no falls the entire season.
“Not many gymnasts can brag about not falling off the beam for a complete season,” noted Gobiel.
Vault was the next event, with Mackenzie Lynch up first, sticking both handsprings. Julia Hurley and senior Brooklyn Banfield tied with scores of 8.2. Sara Jurovich hit her handspring, scoring a season-high of 8.4. Junior all-around Zoe Rey hit her vault to score an 8.6.
“The remarkable thing about that score is the vault is only worth 8.6, so Zoe basically scored a 10,” said Gobiel. Isabella Rice finished the line-up with her somersaulting vault and a season high tally of 9.0.
The last event for Winthrop was the floor exercise. Charlotte Zarba started off well, tying Sara Jurovich with a 7.7. Brooklyn Banfield followed with an 8.1. Callie Anderson, who completed two new twisting skills in her routine, hit her season-high of 8.3. Julia Hurley and Isabella Rice had great routines, tying for second place with 8.75. The day belonged to Zoe Rey, performing her last routine of the regular season, with her highest score of 9.0.
WHS gymnastics does well in conference meet; Rey named to all-star team
The Winthrop High gymnastics team competed in the recent Northeastern Conference Championship Meet that was held at the Beverly YMCA. The 10 NEC schools participated in the meet, with a format of three athletes from each school competing in each of the four events: vault, beam, uneven parallel bars, and floor exercise.
The first event for Winthrop was the vault. Mackenzie Lynch scored a 7.2, eighth-grader Gaby Ilie hit a season-high of 8.35 with her half-twisting handspring, and Isabella Rice, who competed on all four events, started with her Tsukahara vault, hitting an all time high score of 9.25 to finish in second place in the tight competition.
Uneven bars was the next event for the Vikings with Callie Anderson doing a nice routine to score a 7.5. Zoe Rey and Rice performed great bar routines, scoring 8.5 and 8.6 and taking seventh and eighth place in the event.
On the balance beam, Anderson scored a 7.5. Rice hit her routine for an 8.3 and 10th place. Senior Julia Hurley did an excellent routine, scoring an 8.7, which was good for seventh place.
The last event, the floor exercise, had Hurley up first with a 7.75, followed by Rey scoring an 8.0. Last up was Rice with a score of 8.2 that landed Isabella in 10th place.
“The competition was very close, with 30 athletes competing in each event,” said WHS coach Pete Gobiel. “Two of the teams in the conference are in the top five in the state, making the meet fun to watch.”
Viking junior Zoe Rey, Winthrop’s all-around, was named to the conference all-star team.
Both Rey and Isabella Rice qualified for the state championships that will be held in Tewksbury on February 17.
The Vikings are waiting to hear if they qualified for sectionals as a team. The top 12 teams in the North, out of about 40, will compete In Northboro on February 22.
“It will be close, but we have a good shot at the 11th or 12th spot,” said Gobiel.
WHS girls now ranked #22 in D-4
The Winthrop High girls basketball team moved up in the Division 4 basketball ratings this past week. Coach Anthony Hatsizavas’s Lady Vikings had been ranked #27 last week, but after a 48-41 win at Beverly last Tuesday and an 83-20 loss in a contest with Cathedral (the #1 ranked team in D-4) last Thursday, they were sitting at #22 as of this past Friday.
Winthrop was scheduled to complete its regular season this week. The Lady Vikings hosted Manchester-Essex this past Tuesday and will make the long trek to Gloucester today (Thursday), weather permitting.
They then will await word of their final ranking and the announcement of their opening-round opponent in the D-4 state tournament. Based on the records of the other schools in D-4, the Lady Vikings very likely will host that first-round tourney game.
Boys hoop tops Arlington Catholic
The Winthrop High boys basketball team defeated Arlington Catholic, 53-48, this past week. Coach Quinton Dale and his crew were scheduled to wrap up their 2025 regular season today (Thursday) with the long trek to Ipswich, weather permitting.