Howell Rebels win SC gymnastics title

Brianna Ecklof made a dramatic return to all-around competition at the Oct. 31 Shore Conference Gymnastics Championships at Brick Memorial High School, Brick Township.

PHOTOS BY CLAIRE SHEPROW Meghan Grothues, of Howell High School, performs her floor exercise routine at the 2009 Shore Conference Gymnastics Championships at Brick Memorial High School on Oct. 31. In her first all-around competition since the first week of the 2009 season, Ecklof won the Shore Conference all-around title and helped lead Howell High School to its second straight Shore Conference gymnastics team title.

With Ecklof defeating Jackson Liberty High School's Alana Morgan by the slimmest of margins, 36.925 to 36.900, the Rebels scored a season-high 107.650 points to successfully defend their 2008 title. Runner up Red Bank Catholic High School scored 106.700 points.

In the absence of Ecklof, the Rebels put their depth — they had 10 gymnasts qualify for the Shore Conference meet — on display throughout the season and lost only one dual meet. That depth got the Rebels into the Shore Conference field and the return of Ecklof was enough to earn the Rebels another team title.

Lindsey Guman of Freehold High School takes flight as she competes in the floor exercise during the 2009 Shore Conference Gymnastics Championships at Brick Memorial High School. Ecklof, the preseason favorite to win the conference's all-around title, injured the medial collateral ligament in her knee during the first week of the season and only recently returned to limited action.

However, despite the rust, she was able to top a talented field and keep the allaround title in Howell for the fourth straight year. Howell's Austyn Fobes, who has since graduated, won the last three conference allaround titles.

Ecklof scored 8.950 on vault (10th), 9.025 on uneven bars (4th), 9.500 on balance beam (2nd) and 9.450 on floor exercise (4th) to post an all-around score of 36.925. Her teammate Alexa DeCanio was 13th in the all-around competition (34.525).

Monet Masters, Meghan Grothues, Caitlyn Hoch, Bayleigh Fobes and Sammi Vigna all had top 15 finishes to help Howell retain the team title.

The top 12 finishers in each event won a medal. Masters was fourth on vault (9.200), Grothues was 12th on vault (8.850), De- Canio (8.850) and Hoch (8.850) tied 12th on balance beam and Fobes was 12th on uneven bars (8.525) for the Rebels.

It was a very good meet for gymnasts from the Freehold Regional High School District. Only eight teams qualified for the Shore Conference team competition and half of them were from the FRHSD. Freehold finished fourth (104.800), Freehold Township finished sixth (104.150) and Colts Neck finished seventh (103.700) in the team standings.

Freehold High School freshman Jen King was fifth in the all-around (36.325), while Freehold Township's Nicole Frietas

36.175) and Colts Neck's Kelsey Hoffbauer (36.050) were seventh and eighth, respectively.

In the individual events, Frietas was second on vault (9.225) and floor exercise

9.550). Hoffbauer was third on vault 9.200) and King was third on floor exercise (9.525).

Other medal winners included Elise Janczewski and Lindsay Gordon of Freehold Township, Brittany Barry of Manalapan, and Courtney Dedea of Colts Neck.

The Central Jersey state sectional meet will take place on Nov. 7 at Manalapan High School. In addition to the four FRHSD teams that qualified for the Shore Conference meet, Manalapan and Marlboro have also qualified for the state sectional team competition.