North gymnasts take second at state meet
By Stephanie Heelan Cotsonas

Caitlin Salt performs on the uneven bars for the Skippers. The team took second place at the Rhode Island and fifth place at the New England meet on Saturday. Photo by Dave Zapatka

While most high school students were enjoying their last weekend of February vacation, the North Kingstown High School gymnastics team was competing in the RI State Championships at Rhode Island College. The Skippers took second place behind La Salle who captured their sixth straight state title.

North's Kim McCabe took fifth in the all-around competition, while taking fourth in the vault and fifth on the bars. Tiphani Comena took second in the vault and was sixth on bars. Islander Caitlin Salt competed for North on the floor and beam where she placed eighth.

"I think our coach was pretty happy even though we fell apart on beam where we had a lot of falls. I was the only one that stuck it," Salt said. "We were in third place for half the meet then we pulled back into second after floor ahead of Coventry," Salt said. "Personally, I thought I did pretty well on beam. On floor I was supposed to do three tumbling moves and I only did two, but overall I still thought it was pretty good and one of my better routines. As a team we did our best but we went out there to win."

Although North wanted to win the meet, La Salle proved to be too tough taking the all-around crown as well as all four individual events. "Last year we lost to them (La Salle) by a half a point and this year we tied for division champs with them so we were happy about that, but we wanted to win," Salt said.

The division championship is based on the win, loss record of the regular meet season. Both North and La Salle had season records of 14-1. "We tied for first because we each had one loss. We lost one against them and they lost one against us. It was exciting when we beat them, but we tried not to show it in front of their team," said Salt.

Looking ahead to next season, North promises to be strong as the two top scorers, McCabe and Comena are juniors along with Salt. "We only have two seniors so we are not losing many people. La Salle is losing more seniors," said Salt. Islanders Julia Hanson and Samantha Bucklin are freshmen and will also be returning as members of the North team next season.

Salt is happy with her second year competing for the high school. "I used to do other sports but gymnastics is pretty much all I do now," she said. After the high school season wraps up Salt will be back at Aim High in North Kingstown with her club team which practices and competes all year round.

Athletic Director Keith Kenyon was happy with the Division I co-champions and the second place finish at the team state meet. "Our gymnastics team had a great season. Although some people may be disappointed with our second place finish, I disagree. These girls had an outstanding season and performed equally as well in their academic challenges. Our gymnasts have always represented this school with dignity and pride," praised Kenyon.

The Skippers competed in the New England Championships on Saturday and finished in fifth place.