Felines Zero In on a Championship

As the Felines draw nearer to the end of the season, important events are bearing down on the team. Several gymnasts will compete in the A Individual Championships, and the whole team will soon after perform in the team final, the A Championships meet. As the overall scores from meets—instead of the team’s record—affect qualification for the A Championships, the Felines’ highest score of 106.4 was what pushed them through.

The last official meet for the Felines was a dual meet against their rivals, Bronx High School of Science and Dewitt Clinton High School. The meet was a well rounded event, with many of the competitors scoring personal bests in their respective events. Coach Vasken Choubaralian said that “ [The meet was] a little unfortunate because two seniors could not compete.” However, members of the team stepped up in their absence. “Senior Leah Rosenthal, junior Camille Sadoff, sophomore Naomi Khanna, and freshmen Ella Krechmer and Agatha Nyarko all achieved their personal bests,” said senior and co-captain Lee-Ann Rushlow. Respectively, the scores that stood out at the individual events were: Rosenthal scored a 7.20 in beam and a 6.20 in floor, Khanna scored a 7.60 in beam and a 7.30 in bars, Nyarko scored a 7.60 in beam, a 7.40 in floor, and a 7.45 on bars. Scoring well in bars was huge for the Felines, as they had struggled with practicing and improving on their scores in the beginning of the year. Another high point during the meet was when “[sophomore] Naomi [Khanna] didn’t fall on [the] beam event, which is really hard to do,” Rushlow said. The Felines ended on a personal high note with a meet full of accomplishments, showing that they are ready to compete at the A Championships meet.

Rushlow, Rosenthal, Khanna, Nyarko, and senior and co-captain Olivia He are all notable names to look out for during the Individual Championships. The Individuals event is very difficult to qualify for, making it quite an impressive feat to just be able to represent Stuyvesant there. During the meet, the Felines’ gymnasts will only perform representing themselves, whereas they usually represent Stuyvesant as a whole.

On a more team-oriented level, the team finals, or A Championships, is coming up in early February. Coach Choubaralian is optimistic about the meet. “For team finals, I am expecting to score between 108 and 110. It should be our season high,” he said. The Felines’ current season high is a 106.4, which they earned during a highly competitive meet against the Bronx High School of Science. That meet, however, was the first meet of the season, and Coach Choubaralian certainly believes that the team can achieve their goal of 110 points in the upcoming A Championships meet. “We have had a whole season to prepare and learn from our mistakes,” he said. A good score during team finals will affirm both the personal and team growth the Felines have experienced throughout the season. Though it will be an uphill battle to wrest the A Championships title from the hands of Tottenville High School, the Felines are in a great spot to try.

In preparation for the team final, Rushlow said, “We are preparing for finals mostly by cleaning up routines.” Much of the work for the season has already been done, so the Felines are focusing on fine-tuning their skills and routines. At the center of importance is freshman Nyarko, who will be influential to whether the Felines achieve their seasonal goal of a strong performance in the A Championships.

A season of hard work is leading up to the team finals. If the Felines implement their routines smoothly, they will be on track to improve upon last year’s performance and conclude on a successful season.