Amherst to field complete team
by PATRICK J. NAGY Reporter

No longer will Amherst have to forfeit points because of a lack of gymnasts.

This year's Lady Tigers' roster has 11 girls, six more than last year's team.

"I'll have six girls per event where last year, I would have only two or three because I didn't have the numbers," said Amherst coach Marcy Reynard. "Now we don't have to lose points because we lack girls. It should also bump up our team scores."

Amherst worked hard in the offseason to increase their roster. Reynard said assistant coach Dave Rine brought in eighth grader Hayley Pandolfi, a cheerleader at Rines Gymnastics, who will compete in uneven bars, balance beam and floor exercise. Senior co-captain Jordan Pescrillo got senior Taylor Manahan (all-around) and juniors Danielle Chiz (beam, uneven bars) and Allison Babcock (balance beam, floor exercise) to join the team for the first time.

Senior co-captain Dana Ruh returns with the most gymnastics experience. Ruh led Amherst to a ninth place finish at last year's Section VI Championships. Ruh will compete in all-around.

Ruh and Pescrillo, another all-around gymnast, are veterans of high school gymnastics.

"I'm glad we have more gymnasts, especially for Dana and Jordan," said Ruh. "They've been on the team since seventh grade and for at least the last four years, the numbers have been really small. Hopefully, with more girls we can do well."

Sophomore Kelsey Battaglia (uneven bars, floor, beam) and Annalise Polvino (all-around) also return. Polvino and Pescrillo competed on vault and beam, respectively, at sectionals. Pescrillo is a former club gymnast; Polvino is a club gymnast at Buffalo Turners. Battaglia is a club cheerleader at Rines.

Also making their debuts are seventh-grader Claire Whalen (all-around), freshman Emily Hess (beam, floor) and sophomore Olivia Dann (uneven bars, beam, floor).

Reynard is looking for several of her gymnasts to score well in all-around competition and break 100 in team scoring.
Amherst 2007 Schedule
10-3 at Maryvale w/OP ....................................................... 5 p.m.
10-5 East ............................................................................... 5 p.m.
10-12 Jamestown, Sweet Home ........................................ 5 p.m.
10-15 Amherst, Ken. West at Ken. East (Hoover Middle School) 5
p.m.
10-27 at Halloween Invitational (Hamburg Middle School)
TBA
11-3 at Section VI Championships (Will. North)............... TBA
e-mail: pnagy@beenews.com