Darien Gymnasts Beat the Odds At FCIAC Meet

Not every gymnastics team qualified for the Fairfield County Interscholastic Athletic Conference this year, but Darien did — barely.

Heading into the Feb. 15 championship meet at Stamford’s Westhill High School, the Blue Wave was seeded seventh out of seven high schools, county-wide. When the chalk dust settled, though, Darien had nudged ahead of Staples, 125.05, with a 127.4 score that bumped the Wave to sixth place.

— This article was written by Holly Russell on behalf of the Darien High School girls gymnastics team. 

Darien Head Coach Judy Zakim was pleased with her team’s jump in FCIAC standings. “We had a solid meet with scores we can use to qualify for States,” she said, adding, “the competition was tough, but we held our own by earning the third place team score on vault (34.4) and beam (32).”

Trumbull, 128.75, took fifth, coming in behind Fairfield Warde, fourth, 130.95, Wilton, third, 131.15, St. Joseph, second, 133.95, and FCIAC Champion Fairfield Ludlowe High School, which garnered a winning 134.55 points. Individual athletes also competed from the following schools: Danbury, Westhill, Norwalk, Greenwich, New Canaan and Stamford.

The state meet takes place on Saturday, Feb. 29. Wave gymnasts to look for — and look out for — include all-around competitors Lana Schmidt, co-captain, and freshman Olivia Perkins. Both athletes earned spots on the podium at the FCIAC meet.

With an 8.2, Schmidt placed sixth on beam. Perkins tied for fifth on bars, 8.35, and on vault, 9. Her 33.85 total score took her home a sixth place all-around medal. With a 32.7 all-around score, Schmidt tied for ninth.

Darien parents, siblings, a former coach and even one of last year’s team captains, Lily Fairleigh, back from college to see the meet, crowded into the Westhill bleachers to support the Wave. Balloons, homemade posters, and a rose for every competing senior added to the festive atmosphere. “All the teams are cheering for each other,” said co-captain Schmidt. “It’s such a close-knit community.”

Unfazed by the excitement, Wave gymnasts demonstrated their usual muscle and panache, starting with beam, one of their top events at Westhill. Sophomore Sommer Schmidt turned in an elastic, balanced 8, while her sister Lana’s focused grace translated to the 8.2 that won her sixth place on the awards podium. Co-captain Kerry McDermott’s deliberate 7.8 split-leap tuck three-quarter also scored points for the team.

Junior Lucy Collins and sophomore Megan Cutler put their best into their floor routines, from Collins’s smooth full-and-a-half turn, 7.7, to Cutler’s sweeping 7.5 front tuck, front tuck. When Junior Lauren Grandon took control of the mat, her roundoff back handspring back layout added 8.15 more points to the team’s score.

In excellent form on vault, sophomore Maggie Russell turned in 8.3 team points, which Perkins added 9 more to with her somersaulting fifth-place tsuk. Tight and energized, freshman Mia MacDonald on bars also looked great.

Taking every gymnast’s performance into consideration, this year’s All FCIAC Team broke down this way for Darien: Perkins and Co-Captain Schmidt, First Team; Co-Captain McDermott, Grandon, and Sommer Schmidt, Second Team; Russell, Honorable Mention.

Confidence made the difference, said co-captain McDermott. Assistant Coach Jessica McKinney put it this way: “I was most inspired by the self-motivated hard work that went into the practices leading up to the championship meet. The girls’ dedication paid off as they were able to refine their routines and deliver a very strong overall team performance.”

McKinney herself competed as a gymnast for Darien High School from 1998 to 2002: four seasons. Each season she won a place on the All-County First Team.

It should come as no surprise that Darien also won the FCIAC Championships three out of McKinney’s four years on the team – 1999, 2000, and 2002 – before she moved on to compete in gymnastics for Brown University.

The Blue Wave keeps on rolling. States, here they come.

photos by Louise Schmidt