Gymnastics notebook: On MADS co-op, a winning culture has resulted in a consistently high compete level

Boston Globe

27-01-2025

'We've just created a really great culture,' said longtime coach
Jen Wrenn
. 'An example: over Christmas I actually had about 20 of them, ranging from graduating in 2012 to 2022, who all came back and got together. It was like a reunion of all the kids. It was so much fun and they loved to come back. They promote the culture themselves.'
That strong culture has continued this season. MADS has recorded 140-plus points in each of its last three meets and is destined for another trip to the sectional meet. (In high school gymnastics, the best teams in the state will score in the 140s.) Much of that success is due to senior co-captains and all-arounders
Allison Hom
(Medfield) and
Emma Marden
(Dover-Sherborn).
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'Allison has been a very consistent competitor for MADS for the last four years,' said Wrenn. 'She has gained quite a lot of skills, which is really impressive. There's not a ton of time in high school to learn new skills, but she's certainly done that.'
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Hom, the reigning Tri-Valley League champion on the bars, hasn't slowed down her learning in her senior season. 'She actually flipped her first Tsukahara [vault] last week,' said Wrenn.
Marden has qualified for the state individual meet each season and competed in the all-around at the New England Championships last season.
'She is a superstar,' said Wrenn. 'She's also gained so many new skills. She's one of the hardest workers I've ever seen. She's the kid that I always have to tell her to do less because she just works so hard.'
Hom and Marden lead by example, which has been useful with the makeup of this year's team. 'There's actually more new kids than there are veterans on the team,' said Wrenn. 'We got a lot of new kids, but they've done very well.'
One of those new kids is freshman
Brooke Postulka
(Medfield), who is in the second act of her gymnastics career.
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'She was a former club gymnast who had a lot of injuries and had to quit,' said Wrenn. 'But she has come to high school gymnastics. Her leaps are beautiful. She makes it look easy and she's so fun to watch.'
Junior
Bridget Wyers
(Dover-Sherborn) can contribute on all four events, making her especially useful this time of year when lineups are ever-changing due to illness and injury.
Last year, the team leaped from a sixth-place seeding to a third-place finish in the South, qualifying for the All-State championship. This year, given the high scores of teams such as Norton, Medway/Holliston/Millis/Milford, Mansfield, and Bridgewater-Raynham/West Bridgewater, the seeding may be similar. Given its history and consistency, MADS can never be counted out when the postseason comes.
'They haven't even peaked yet,' said Wrenn.
The MADS co-op team had a beach day Sunday at the Jacqui Invitational, honoring late judge Jacqui Rossini at Elite Gymnastics in Ashland.
Pat Greenhouse/Globe Staff
Pressure points
▪ Undefeated in Patriot League meets, Hingham/Hull is having a strong season thanks to all-arounders who are opposite points in their careers.
Freshman
Grace Whiting
is second in the Patriot League in the all-around (35.09). Right behind is senior
Sienna Besser
(34.77), a two-time state individuals qualifier. Whiting and Besser also give the co-op at least one gymnast in the top three of every apparatus.
Most impressive has been Hingham/Hull's two wins over reigning league champion Marshfield, which still has the league's best all-arounder,
Annie Spencer
.
'Both meets were very close, but we were able to perform under pressure and won both competitions,' said Hingham/Hull coach
Alexandra Boyd
.
Also contributing key routines are
Jessica Scipione
on bars and
Charlotte Passeggio
on beam.
'The talent on the team has really grown over the last few years,' said Boyd.
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Senior salute
▪ Danvers/Lynnfield continues to be one of the North's best, thanks to senior
Camryn Donovan
taking a leading role. The Lynnfield senior juggles her Level 10 club career with a significant role on her high school team, and she is grateful to have both.
'I have really loved the team aspect to it, as club is a lot more individualized,' said Donovan, who was fourth in the all-around at last year's state meet. 'My team has a lot of fun and has made it memorable for me.'
Third at states a year ago, Danvers/Lynnfield appears headed back to the postseason, with consistent 140s, including a stunning season-opening 147.95 score against Masconomet.
Donovan is known for her 2½ twist on floor exercise, and points to the apparatus as the team's best.
'We have a lot of difficulty in our lineup, as well as some really fun routines,' said Donovan.
Kat Cornetta can be reached at