Flippin' successful

By Christine Urio
GOSHEN — Monroe-Woodbury students who attend the Kennett School of Gymnastics in Goshen once again tumbled, jumped and flipped their way to success at the New York State Gymnastics competition on March 17 and 18 at Rockland County Community College.
The New York State team is comprised of gymnasts that received the top seven scores in the All Around Category, meaning that each girl received the highest score in their age group based upon their totaled individual scores earned from bars, beam, floor and vault.
Kennett had both Silver and Gold teams at States. Once the seven spots were filled for gold and the seven spots were filled for silver, the remaining gymnasts that scored in the Top 16 in All-Around made up the All-Star Team, in which there is a Gold and Silver team as well.
Because the girls did so well, many will be representing New York State at the Regional competition in Shrewsberry, Mass., on May 19, where the girls will be competing against 7 to 16 year-olds in Region 6, which includes teams from New York, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine.
While there are two separate teams that will be representing New York from Kennett, four of the nine girls from Kennett are Monroe-Woodbury Crusaders.
North Main Elementary fourth-grader Molly Connolly has been involved in gymnastics since she was only three years old.
“I like gymnastics because I can be myself and express myself,” she said.
Connolly’s favorite event is the vault.
“I’m excited about Regionals because I know the gym and I know how things work this year,” she said. “I’m going with my teammates and I’m excited to see how we do this year. I’m so happy I qualified to be there again.”
Kallan Pasciuto, a Pine Tree Elementary third-grader, likes gymnastics because she likes to challenge herself.
“My favorite events are vault, floor and bars,” Pasciuto said. “Gymnastics has taught me to never give up on things, and I learned how to do a back-handspring.”
Allison Torres, a Monroe-Woodbury Middle School sixth-grader, became involved in gymnastics after taking a rec class with her neighbor when she was 8-years-old.
“I love gymnastics because it pushes me to work really hard, it makes my body strong, and I love the thrill of mastering new skills,” she said. “My favorite event is floor because I love tumbling.”