Varsity girls take third in home finale
GILROY – Senior Luz Gonzalez capped her standout gymnastics career at Gilroy High School by placing second in the all-around – including first in her floor exercise – in Monday’s home finale.
“She had a great meet,” head coach Nichole Anagnoston said. “She had a really solid performance tonight.”
The four-year varsity gymnast scored a 33.8 overall to lead the Lady Mustangs to a third-place finish among four competing schools. Gonzalez was first in floor with a 9.3, second on bars with an 8.9, third on vault with an 8.5, and fifth on beam with a 7.1.
“It was really exciting because she’s a senior and she’s been our MVP for the last three years and this was her last home meet,” Anagnoston said. “She had a really great performance all-around.”
In the team results, Cupertino took top honors with a 129.55 tally ahead of runner-up Monte Vista with a 124.4, third-place Gilroy with a 105.9, and fourth-place Fremont with a 26.35.
“They were very consistent,” said Anagnoston of her varsity tumblers. “They seemed relaxed and they had a good meet, better than last week’s.”
The Lady Mustangs picked up a meet victory last week by defeating Los Altos in their first home outing of the season.
In the home finale, senior Marliz Copado placed fourth on vault with an 8.3 and sixth on beam with a 6.9, while junior teammate Erica Law was third on beam with a 7.9 and sophomore Samantha Nussbaumer took sixth on floor with an 8.4.
In addition, sophomore Erin Kinkel finished fourth on both beam with a 7.6 and floor with an 8.7, as well as fifth on bars with an 8.2.
“She had a slight injury, so we pulled her from her vault routine, but we’re looking to qualify her all-around for CCS,” said Anagnoston of Kinkel, who was battling shin splints and a tendon tear in her ankle. “Each girl on varsity has a chance to qualify for CCS in their best event.”
The garlic gymnasts can qualify for CCS, scheduled for May 18, with strong showings in the May 11 SCVAL Finals at Twisters Gym in Mountain View.
The junior varsity squad topped Cupertino by a 173-167 spread.
