R.I. gymnasts place eighth, win third-straight Sportsmanship Award at Senior Nationals

BY CAROLYN THORNTON
JOURNAL SPORTS WRITER

"It was a fantastic Rhode Island finish and an excellent trip," coach Melissa Gendreau reports of the Ocean State's showing at last weekend's National High School Gymnastics Association Senior Showcase Invitational, held at Virginia Beach.

The team, comprising seniors who qualified in the all-around for the state championships, captured the Sportsmanship Award for the third straight year and placed eighth overall.

Individually, state champion Meghan Fogarty of La Salle placed third on beam, fifth on vault and eighth on bars, finishing ninth in the all-around.

Fellow Ram Meghan Soltys, the 2008 state champion and runner-up this year to Fogarty, took 6th on beam and 10th on floor, placing 15th in the all-around. She also qualified on vault, but scratched from that event because she was experiencing soreness in her knee after the first day's competition.

The Rhode Island team was also represented by: Emily Holt and Courtney Miller, also of La Salle; North Kingstown's Kim McCabe, Tiphani Comena and Caitlin Salt; Michelle Desillier of West Warwick, Amanda Perra of Toll Gate, Barrington's Mackie Glashow, Allison Faria of Coventry and Kristen Cacal of Exeter-West Greenwich.

"First of all, they were an amazing group of girls to spend time with," said Gendreau, the Mt. Hope coach who has been chaperoning the team for the last two decades and was once again accompanied by North Kingstown coach Kelli Murphy.

"They had a blast and were a lot of fun to be around. We were able to spend time at the beach, shopping and had some interesting van rides to and from dinner and the gym. We also went on an awesome dinner cruise after finals and the girls danced the night away."

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