Saratoga Springs — Everyone knows that Saratoga Springs is a horseracing town and one of the hardest bets to win at the track is the trifecta where the bettor has to pick the first, second and third place finishers in a race. Dating back to last year’s Section II championships, the Saratoga Springs High School gymnastics team has hit the trifecta in four consecutive competitions.
In each of those contests, Saratoga gymnasts Sophia Damiano, Ava Dallas and Carly Ruschak have finished 1-2-3 in the all-around. On Friday night at the Wilton YMCA, the trio led Saratoga to a win over Guilderland 169.9 – 156.0 to move to 3-0 on the season. Damiano was first in the all-around with a score of 36.825 followed by Dallas in second (36.45) and Ruschak in third (33.25). Guilderland’s top finisher in the all-around was Carli Rem who finished 4th (32.65).
Damiano scored highest on the vault (9.525) and the balance beam (9.05). She finished second on the uneven bars and the floor. Dallas won the uneven bars (8.9) and the floor (9.5). She placed second on the vault and the balance beam. Ruschak took third on the uneven bars, the balance beam and the floor.
“I’m really happy with the consistency of the top three. They are scoring really well while adding more difficult skills to their routines. Really the whole team has come together nicely. We shoot for a team score of 170 in each meet and we only missed it by 0.1 points tonight. We had an injury on the vault and another contributor did not compete. I really like where we are at midway through the season,” commented Head Coach Deb Smarro.
Saratoga returns to action on Thursday, January 28 against Shaker at the Wilton YMCA.
TOP THREE FINISHERS IN EACH EVENT
Vault: 1st-Sophia Damiano(SS) 9.525; 2nd-Ava Dallas(SS) 9.15; 3rd- Addie Seebode (G) 8.25
Bars: 1st-Ava Dallas(SS) 8.9; 2nd-Sophia Damiano(SS) 8.8; 3rd-Carly Ruschak(SS) 7.3
Beam: 1st-Sophia Damiano(SS) 9.05; 2nd-Ava Dallas(SS) 8.9; 3rd-Carly Ruschak(SS) 8.6
Floor: 1st-Ava Dallas(SS) 9.5; 2nd-Sophia Damiano(SS) 9.45; 3rd-Carly Ruschak(SS) 9.25
AA: 1st-Sophia Damiano(SS) 36.825; 2nd-Ava Dallas(SS) 36.45; 3rd-Carly Ruschak(SS) 33.25
