Gasparino Sprints into Spring Season
NEIRAD enilno edition
Load printer friendly version
Track super star, junior Christy Gasparino, had a successful winter season and ended it by earning the role of captain for next year. On January 24th at the SCC Coaches Invitational, Gasparino tied the indoor high jump record with a height of 5’ 6’’.
Recently, Gasparino competed for the first time in the National Scholastic Indoor Championships for the pentathlon. The pentathlon consists of high jump, long jump, 55-meter hurdles, shot put and an 800-meter run. Gasparino scored 2,947 points landing in eighth place.
“I didn’t have that much time for preparation. I only started to prepare for it a couple weeks before,” Gasparino said. “However, I will be competing in the heptathlon in the outdoor season which I will be preparing for a lot more.”
The heptathlon consists of high jump, long jump, 100-meter hurdles, shot put, javelin, a 200-meter run, and an 800-meter run.
With a great winter season behind her, Gasparino had little time off before the outdoor track season began. The girls started practicing on March 23rd. , Their first meet is at home against New Canaan on April 13th.
Coach Norris has plans for even harder workouts in the outdoor season, which will continue to improve Gasparino’s skills. One of her biggest goals for spring is to break the outdoor high jump record.
Friend and teammate junior Meg Murphy ran hurdles with Gasparino last spring, Murphy remarks “sometimes I forget that we compete against each other because she is always so helpful,” Murphy continutes to state “Christy is a lot of fun to hang around with, always making jokes, but she also knows when it is time to work.” Murphy looks forward to the spring season with Gasparino and knows that next year she will be an amazing role model for the girls on the team. “She excels at what she does, but never brags about her accomplishments.”
Although she is an extremely successful runner, Gasparino did not always have her heart set on track. She has been a gymnast for most of her life, but decided to give it up this year in order to pursue track. Gymnastics was a big commitment, and participating in both sports proved to be too difficult a task.
“I would go to school, go to track, have a bit of time in between, and then go to gymnastics,” Gasparino said.
Gasparino plans on doing track in college, and made the decision in the start of the school year to quit gymnastics. She has sent some tapes to colleges and is in contact with coaches in order to get her name out there.
Co-Captain Grace Doering remarks “Christy jumped a personal record of 5'6 and we are all expecting great things from her in this outdoor season. She is extremely talented and will continue to excel in the high jump throughout her senior year and college.”
Christy remarks “I will always miss gymnastics, but I am happy that I found another sport that I enjoy so much.”
Gasparino’s gymnastics friends gave her the nickname “goon” because she was the tallest person in the gym. Typically gymnasts are short, and since Christy towered over most of them, the nickname stuck.
Next year, Gasparino will be the indoor track captain along with juniors Meredith Jordan, Kelly Mahoney, Kelly Brophy, and Cat Thomas. The girls’ goal is for their team is to become FCIAC and State champions again.
Co- Captain Megan Gilbert states “Christy has great potential and that competitive drive to succeed in her events.”
“We have a great team. We all really come together and work hard,” Gasparino said. “Every person on our team makes a difference and we all work together to achieve our goals.”
