WHS gymnastics team defeats Essex
The Winthrop High gymnastics team opened its season with meets against perennial state power Masconomet and Essex Tech.
In the contest with Masco, which finished second in the state and should be in the top three this season, the Vikings started on uneven bars with eighth grader Gaby Ilie competing for the first time as a Viking, scoring a 7.1. Senior Sara Jurovich was up next and pushed through her new bar routine, tying with teammate Macy Werstak with a 6.2. Callie Anderson, who joined the team this year from Saugus High (this season for the first time Winthrop entered into a co-op with Saugus), scored a 7.2. Senior all-around Isabella Rice hit her routine, scoring an 8.0, good for fourth place. Last up for Winthrop was junior all-around Zoe Rey, who hit her routine to score an 8.3 to land in third place.
The vault was the second event for Winthrop. Mackenzie Lynch, competing first, hit her handspring vault, scoring a 7.65. Callie Anderson competed next, scoring an 8.0. Sara Jurovich and Zoe Rey tied with scores of 7.95. Isabella Rice then completed a Tsukahara, which is a flipping vault.
“Isabella hasn’t done that vault in four years,” noted WHS coach Pete Gobiel. “She did both vaults really well, scoring an 8.5 for third place.”
Freshman Macy West performed her signature twisting-handspring, scoring a team-high 8.7.
On the floor exercise, eighth-grader Gaby Ilie was up first, scoring a 6.3. Senior Julia Hurley and senior Brooklyn Banfield hit their floor routines, both scoring a 7.5. Callie Anderson scored a 7.1. Senior Isabella Rice performed a great floor routine, scoring a 7.1. Zoe Rey then did a layout somersault with a full twist for the first time in high school, scoring an 8.4. The final score for the meet showed Masco with 138.75 points and Winthrop with 125.45.
“We certainly have some work to do to clean up our routines, but for our first meet against a state champion we held our own,” said WHS coach Christa Vaccaro.
The Vikings then took on Essex Tech for their first home contest of the season. Starting on bars, Sara Jurovich and Gaby Ilie tied for 7.7. Macy Werstak hit her bar routine for a score of 7.85. Callie Anderson scored her highest score of the season with an 8.0, finishing in third place. Isabella Rice hit her bar routine, scoring a high of 8.8, good for first place.
On the beam event, Gaby Ilie hit her routine, scoring a 7.9, tying Callie Anderson and Zoe Rey. Sara Jurovich fell on her standing back somersault on beam and still managed to score a 7.2. Julia Hurley then turned in a great routine, one of her best this season, scoring an 8.1 for first place.
Vault was Winthrop’s third event. Junior Mackenzie Lynch was up first, scoring a 7.8.
Sara Jurovich and Zoe Rey tied with an 8.1. Isabella Rice had a rough day on the vault, over-rotating her first Tsukahara into the warning mat. Her second attempt over- compensated and Isabella opened up early on to her stomach.
“We all have those days when we try too hard and things just don’t work out,” said Gobiel.
Freshman Macy Werstak twisted her handspring for a stuck landing, scoring a 9.0 for first place and her highest score of the season.
Gaby Ilie started first on floor, scoring a 7.6. Brooklyn Banfield and Callie Anderson tied with an 8.0, with Julia Hurley just ahead of them with an 8.1. Isabella Rice hit her floor routine with a season-high of 8.55. Last up, performing her new routine, was junior all around Zoe Rey, who took first place with a season-high score of 8.66.
The final tally showed Winthrop with 132.15 points and Essex Tech with 121.65.
The Vikings will be back in action this Saturday evening at 6:30 when they will host Hamilton-Wenham at the Winthrop Gymnastics Academy.
Boys hockey stays perfect in the NEC; hosts Marblehead Sat.
The Winthrop High boys hockey team improved to 4-0 in the Northeastern Conference with a 2-1 victory over Northeastern Conference (NEC) North Division rival Masconomet Saturday evening at Kasabuski Rink.
As always seems to be the case when these foes tangle, the contest was a physical battle from the outset. After a scoreless opening period, Masco forged ahead with a goal in the middle frame to take a 1-0 advantage heading into the final 15 minutes.
However, the Vikings came out of their locker room on fire and dominated play. Senior captain Mike Holgersen, assisted by senior Adam Survilas, knotted the score at 1-1 on a power play and then with five minutes to go, senior forward Jay Fotiades (unassisted) reached the back of the Chieftains’ net to make it 2-1.
The contest was filled with drama right to the very end, as Masco earned a power play with less than two minutes remaining. However, the staunch Viking defense, which was led by the solid play of Survilas, and the goaltending of senior captain Mike Donahue (26 saves on the night) preserved the victory.
This past Monday Winthrop traveled to non-league opponent Lexington and skated home with a 5-2 victory. The Vikings seized the initiative with two goals in the opening period off the sticks of senior captain Phil Boncore (assisted by sophomore Dom Spinale) and Spinale (assisted by Fotiades and senior assistant captain Luke Githinji).
The Minutemen cut the margin to 2-1 with a goal in the second period, but the Vikings came out flying in the final period, scoring three unanswered goals to put the game away. Joe Pumphret scored two goals, the first on a power play (assisted by Survilas and Holgersen) and the second when he stole a Lexington pass and skated in for a breakaway goal that put the game on ice.
In between those goals, Githinji (assisted by Holgersen) reached the back of the Minutemen’s net. Donahue once again made some timely saves while the game was close to keep Winthrop in the lead.
The lone setack for the Vikings came last Wednesday against non-league opponent Lynnfield at Larsen Rink. Winthrop, which has defeated Lynnfield in a Christmas Tournament three weeks previously, appeared to be in control when the Vikings took a 2-0 lead in the opening period on goals by Spinale (assisted by Nick Romano and Charlie Ferrara) and junior Tomas Babine on a power play (assisted by junior Bert Kline).
However, the visiting Pioneers scored the next five goals over the final two periods, including an empty-netter at the end, for the 5-2 victory.
Coach Dale Dunbar and his crew, who stand at 7-4 overall at the halfway mark of the 2025 campaign, have two key NEC North contests this coming week. They will travel to Endicott College in Beverly tonight (Thursday) to meet Danvers at Ray Bourque Arena for a 6:30 face-off.
The Vikings then will host Marblehead, which also is undefeated in the NEC, in what shapes up as the NEC game of the year at this point of the season. The Vikings and Magicians have been fierce foes in the past and Larsen Rink should be rockin’ n’ rollin’ for the contest, which faces off at 2:30.
The encounter will be a battle of titans in the schoolboy ranks, as
Marblehead, the defending D-3 state champion, currently is ranked #3 in Division 3 with a 9-1-1 record, while Winthrop, which advanced to the semifinals of the D-4 state tournament last year, is ranked #5 in D-4.
Girls basketball hosts Swampscott
The Winthrop High girls basketball team will host Northeastern Conference South Division rival Swampscott tomorrow (Friday) evening. The opening tip is set for 7:00.
The Lady Vikings edged the Lady Big Blue in their first encounter this season, 32-26, in the season-opener for both teams in mid-December.
Coach Anthony Hatzisavas and his crew next will entertain NEC South foe Saugus on Monday and NEC North rival Masconomet next Thursday, with both of those contests tipping off at 6:30 on the Chris Tsiotos Floor.
The Lady Vikings, who stand at 4-8 on the season, are ranked 28th in the MIAA Division 4 power rankings.
WHS boys hoop hits the road
The Winthrop High boys basketball team will travel to a trio of Northeastern Conference rivals in the coming week: to Swampscott on Friday, to Saugus on Monday, and to Masconomet next Thursday.