Senior Megan Farris-Mayock, freshman Neva Mahler and senior Heather Pence, lead the Shorecrest gymnastics team as co-captains this year.
Farris was one of two Shorecrest gymnasts to qualify for state last year. She also made it as a freshman in the vault.
She finished 40th in the floor exercise with a score of 8.975 points, 41st in the uneven bars with a score of 7.225 points and 75th in the balance beam with 8.1 points.
Farris won the all-around competition with a score of 31.4 in a three team meet with Bainbridge and Shorewood Dec. 14, won by Bainbridge.
Farris tied for first in the vault with a score of 8.45, was second in the bars with a score of 7.0 and placed second in the floor exercise with a 8.9.
“She’s put together a new bar routine which I think will be really strong,” new Shorecrest co-head coach Thor Anderson said. “She’s got a strong floor routine as well because she really sells it. I think that’s what floor’s all about. She goes for it every time…It’s a routine she knows really well. She knows when she can ham it up a bit. She does really well when the audience gets into it.”
Anderson, a Shorewood graduate who taught on a U.S. military base in Germany the past four years before returning to teach at Shorewood, has served as an assistant gymnastics coach at Shorewood, which is coached by his sister Susan Riley. The other co-head coach is Carrie Bemis, a former gymnast and teacher at Shorewood, who is coaching for the first time. Anderson focuses on coaching the bars and vault, while Bemis’ strengths are the floor and beam.
“We get along really well and play off each other,” Anderson said. “It’s been nice to have someone to run ideas by. I think the girls like having two options of people to go to.”
Mahler, a freshman who previously did club gymnastics, stopped doing club this past summer to pursue high school gymnastics because of the “beating” her knees, legs, ankles and especially feet were taking from club practice, her coaches said.
Mahler, a solid all-around gymnast, brings a vast amount of experience to the team as does Ferris, who does some club gymnastics.
“It’s nice to have Megan and Neva there as teachers and role models and encouragers,” Anderson said.
Pence rounds out the top three gymnasts on the team and is natural athlete with “amazing energy,” Bemis said. Junior Laura Sigelman competed in three of four events at the Bainbridge meet and “with one more year she could end up being pretty good,” Anderson said.
The vault is one of the stronger events for the Scots this season, Anderson said.
The Scots started out with 26 gymnasts and 22 remain.
With the big turnout, the Anderson and Bemis were originally going to make cuts, but decided against it because of a desire to grow the program and because of the positive attitudes of the girls. Having such a large team does cut into individual practice time but keeping more girls in the program was a tradeoff. “That’s the hard part of this sport you have to think long term,” Anderson said. “I’m excited. It’s very much a feeler year for Carrie and I to see what the other teams bring. I realize I get my energy once I get (to practice).”
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