Young Lemurs Leaping Ahead

Stuyvesant’s boys’ varsity gymnastics team, the Lemurs, faced John F. Kennedy High School (JFK) for their first meet on Friday, January 12, finishing with an overall team score of 97.60 against JFK’s 107.20. This year, the Lemurs will be struggling to earn back the points of four valuable former-senior gymnasts, including Matthew Aleksky (‘17) and Martuni Nazaryan (‘17). The Lemurs have been left with only one current senior, John Lin.

Two months ago, in an attempt at completing a front layout half twist, junior and co-captain Andy Zhang sprained his ankle—a partial tear in the ligament in his right ankle. His presence has been sorely missed by the team. For the past eight weeks of rest and rehabilitation, Zhang has been recovering and will soon be returning to the active roster. “I’m supposed to be fully recovered right now. However, I still feel a lack of mobility and some pain in my ankle, so I can only train upper body… I choose not to [compete] because I sat out for so long,” Zhang said. The injury has undoubtedly been an obstacle for Zhang’s competitive gymnastics season, but he remains optimistic. “I'm hoping to compete in all apparatuses at least once before the end of the season,” he said.

Though the team was worried that the loss of its top three starters would be a devastating blow to the team’s average score, the Lemurs have learned to rely on juniors and underclassmen to carry the team, hopefully building a strong foundation for the coming years. “This is one of the largest [numbers] of people we've… had on the team,” junior and co-captain Muhib Khan said. Yet, with 20 players on the roster and half of them being newcomers, heading this team in the right direction has proven to be a bit of a challenge. “A lot of them lack confidence,” coach Autry said. “But they are very talented; they just don’t have the technique yet. They have the strength. They need more technique: flexibility and probably concentration.”

Among the new members is former Chelsea Piers competitive gymnast, sophomore Jordan Kaisman, whose scores this season will serve as a significant contribution to the team’s overall performance. In the first meet alone, he competed as one of two all-around competitors, scoring a total of 29.4, and topped Stuyvesant’s scores in floor exercise and vault with scores of 6.4 and 7.9, respectively, out of 10—a solid score for a rookie. Kaisman and the rest of the underclassmen reveal a promising future for the Lemurs.

During the competition against JFK, the team competed with five rookies for the first time this season. Lin scored highest on the team on parallel bars with a 4.6 and on rings with a 5.7. Khan was a high scorer on all events and led the team on pommel horse with a 6.7, high bar with a 4.5, and all-around with a total of 33.7. Although they lost, their score of 97.6 was not a bad start to their season, especially for such a young team.

In their most recent meet against Long Island City (LIC) on January 18, the team scored 104.5, only .2 points behind LIC’s total, 104.7. The team enlisted three more rookies to compete for the first time. Lin led the team on rings with a 5.4. Kaisman played as the team’s top scorer on vault, 8.2, and floor exercise, 6.0. Khan scored a high of 8.0 on pommel horse and was the team’s dominant force on high bar with a 4.8, on parallel bars with a 5.2, and as an all-around competitor with a 36.3.

While the loss of so many all-around gymnasts has lowered their divisional standing from first to sixth, the team is using this season as a buffer and a training season in order to make a comeback next year. Though they went undefeated in their league last year, “this season is going to be a season for us to train hard and get better and not necessarily win a ton. It will be a bridge for us to become exceptionally good for next year,” Khan said. Despite their losses, the team is making progress.

Zhang echoed his co-captain Khan. “What needs to improve is the variety of events that our kids compete [in]…80 percent of our kids spend most of their practice every day on floor exercise. We have way too many kids for that event and not enough for the [other] apparatuses,” Zhang said. Along with competing in the varying events, “difficulty in routines, in order to achieve higher [starting] scores” is also a factor, Khan said. Increasing the exposure of this young team is the key; new skills and trying new events will allow this team to reach its full potential.

The Lemurs will have to place forth in their division in order to make team finals, ideally ahead of both Laguardia High School and Bronx Science High School, two of their long time rivals. “As we push our limits and achieve harder skills, we'll be able to score higher and do better,” Khan said. Even with their losses, the team and its newcomers are improving and hope to see positive results in the years to come.

Gymnastics Scoring

For non-elite competitions, gymnastics is scored out of 10. A gymnast must meet a certain number of skills at a certain level to prevent from large deductions. Each routine will have a starting score based on the difficulty of the skills contained in the routine (larger deductions will be taken from the starting score if the routines do not follow the level’s requirements). From there, deductions will be taken accordingly (bad form includes bent legs, bent arms, flexed feet, etc.). One can maximize points earned by limiting deductions and showing control over skills. For the highest starting score, one must include higher difficulty, and thereby higher value, skills. The highest starting scores are generally reserved for skills a step down from elite.

Men’s Artistic Gymnastics has six events: Floor Exercise, Pommel Horse, Still Rings, Vault, Parallel Bars, and Horizontal High Bar. The top three scores on each event are counted toward the team score.

Women’s Artistics Gymnastics has for events: Vault, Uneven Bars, Balance Beam, and Floor Exercise. The top four scores on each event are counted toward the team score.