The Garden City Girls Varsity Gymnastics team opened their season Jan. 8 against Great Neck South with an overwhelming victory - Garden City 126 - Great Neck South 64. The team is led by returning seniors and co-captains Michelle Vitale and Nicole Gallagher.

Vitale placed second on both the uneven bars and the balance beam. Gallagher took third on the floor exercise. Junior Bradie Dwyer took first place in all four events with a high score of 8.6 on the floor, 8.6 on the vault and 8.0 on the balance beam. Junior Lisa Marino is also a strong asset to the team. She is also an all-around gymnast, competing on all four apparatus. Marino placed second on the floor exercise. Sophomore Jenny Cohn took second on the vault and third on the beam. Erin Patterson, a new and strong competitor, especially on the vault and bars, placed third on the vault.

The team, led by coaches George Kast and Janet Walsh, is looking to be a contender for first place in Conference II. The girls are working hard to improve their routines and increase the amount of difficulty. They pursued their undefeated season with a second win over Hewlett on Jan. 13. This was a hard fought victory with a close final score of 126-120 at the first home meet of the season at Stratford Avenue School.

The top three finisher on each event included:

Uneven bars:

First - Bradie Dwyer

Second - Michelle Vitale

Beam:

First - Bradie Dwyer

Second - Nicole Gallagher

Floor:

First - Bradie Dwyer

Second - Nicole Gallagher

Third - Lisa Marino

Vault:

First - Bradie Dwyer

Second - Erin Patterson

Come support the varsity gymnasts at their home meet on Friday, Jan. 31 at 5 p.m. at Stratford School.