Colts Neck’s Diamond first in SC All-Around

BY TIM MORRIS
Staff Writer

JERRY WOLKOWITZ staff Colts Neck’s Lindsay Diamond performs on the balance beam at Saturday’s Shore Conference Championships at Brick Memorial High School.

BRICK TOWNSHIP — Shore Conference gymnasts didn’t know what hit them Saturday.

Colts Neck doesn’t field a gymnastics team, so, in order to attain qualifying scores for the Shore Conference meet, the Cougars’ Lindsay Diamond competed in meets with Marlboro this fall. Her scores didn’t count toward Marlboro’s team score, they were only for her own qualifying purposes. As result, Diamond arrived at Saturday’s Shore Conference Championships at Brick Memorial as an unknown quantity. No one knew what to expect.

Now, everyone in the Shore knows who the Colts Neck gymnast is — the Shore Conference All-Around champion.

Diamond’s 37.750 score topped Red Bank Catholic’s Beate Jones (37.700) by .05. She is the first Freehold District gymnast to win the SC all-around title since Howell’s Dawn Campbell did it in the mid-1990s (she went on to become the state’s AA champion).

Diamond’s scores were 9.550 on the vault, 9.575 on the uneven bars, 9.400 on the balance beam and 9.225 on the floor exercise.

The Cougar added the uneven bars title to her AA crown. She was second on the vault and beam, and fifth on the floor exercise. That consistency made her the 2003 champion.

RBC’s Jones won three events: the vault (9.575), beam (9.500) and floor (9.475). However, Diamond stayed close behind her on each event, and when she gained a big edge on the bars (9.9.575-9.150), it was enough to take her to the all-around title.

Several other gymnasts from the Freehold District also distinguished themselves Saturday.

Howell’s Stephanie Novelli finished ninth in the AA, scoring 34.875. Manalapan’s Arielle Phillips was 14th (34.275), and her teammate, Kayala Franzblau, 18th (33.800). Marlboro’s Jackie Mandelbaum finished 19th (33.700). Freehold Borough’s Suzanne Travia was 20th (33.675), and her teammate, Jackie Verdon, 22nd (33.450).

Novelli was fifth on the balance beam (9.100), and Travia was seventh on the uneven bars (8.950).

Freehold Township’s Katie Lane was seventh on the beam (8.800) and 10th on the bars (8.725).

Phillips was seventh on the beam (8.800), and her Manalapan teammate, Amy Van Rensburg, 10th (8.700).

Marlboro was the only team to qualify for the team championship from the District, and the Mustangs finished sixth (98.525). RBC took home the championship with a 108.300 score.

The NJSIAA Central Jersey Championships are Saturday at Manalapan High School. All the girls from the area who qualified for the SC will be competing at the sectional. Marlboro and Manalapan have both qualified as teams.