Desmarais wins state title

The Rhode Island Interscholastic League held its Gymnastics State Championships last weekend at Rhode Island College, and Johnston freshman Gianna Desmarais was the school’s lone representative.
She made a stunning debut, going on to win the vault title with a score of 9.45.
Although Desmarais felt that a strong performance was in the cards, she did not expect a first-place finish, especially after a tough start to the day.
“Practice has been going well, so it was kind of expected. I was pretty happy, I didn’t think (my score) was going to be that high because warmups (didn’t go) very well, but I just came out and did what I know how to do,” said Desmarais.
Desmarais went on to finish 10th in the all-around category, thanks to a second-place finish in the bars as well. Desmarais qualified for each event at the upcoming New England championships.
Looking toward the future, Desmarais feels that she will only grow in both confidence and performance with the show she put on last weekend.
“I’m very proud. I definitely think I can be much better, especially after coming back from injuries, I think I can be much better than my freshman year,” Desmarais said.
Winning the team state title was the Warwick co-op.
Leading the way were seniors Riley Bromage and Madison Long, who finished second and third all-around, respectively.
Long won the floor competition, took second on the beam and third on the vault. Bromage took fourth in the vault, sixth in bars, fifth on the beam and second on the floor.
“It felt good, especially both of us coming off serious injuries, it felt good to come back and win this for our team,” said Bromage.
The senior leader believed that the key to the team’s win was getting off to a fast start with a strong performance on the bars, which is an event that they’ve struggled with at times this season.
“We usually start slow on the first event but today we didn’t and it was a really motivating feeling. We didn’t even know if we’d be able to compete this year (due to our injuries), so it was a really good feeling to leave it all out there today,” Bromage said.
Long added: “That really helped because it allowed us to take a breath and have fun the rest of the meet. That was important because when we have fun, that’s when we do our best.”
Warwick edged South Kingstown by less than one point and it all came down to the vault. Long injured her ankle on her first try in the competition, but would get taped up and nail her second attempt, scoring a 9.25 which would be just enough to edge the Rebels.
“I really just wanted to come through and land it for my team, take home the win. It’s my last one so I really just wanted to end on a good note,” said Long.
The Cranston gymnastics co-op made the trip as well.
Cranston East’s Salma Montero Pedra scored an 8.4 in the vault to finish 23rd while West’s Kayla DeSarro finished with an 8.2.
West’s Madilyn Bolton scored an 8.15 on the floor, followed by teammate Sofia Polanco with an 8.1. Montero Pedra finished with a 7.55 and West’s Lexee Felicio finished with a 7.55.