Bay Shore/Islip’s Skye Harper wins all-around
Bayshore's Skye Harper performs her balance beam routine at the Suffolk gymnastics individual championships at Babylon High School on Friday, Nov. 11, 2016. Credit: Richard T. Slattery
Skye Harper of Bay Shore/Islip is headed to the girls gymnastics state tournament at Cold Spring Harbor High School in March. The Bay Shore freshman earned the all-around Suffolk title and won the floor exercise with a personal best score of 9.8 at the Suffolk state qualifier/individual championships in Babylon on Friday. She also captured the balance beam with a score of 9.825.
“I didn’t really expect this because I was up against tough competition,” Harper said. “It was between me and a few other girls, so we knew it would be one of us. I was really happy that I won.”
Harper’s teammate Hayden Davidson finished second in the overall competition.
“Our coach told us that it was going to be between us and we didn’t really talk about it during the meet,” Harper said. “We generally root for each other and we’ve been teammates and friends for so long.”
Bay Shore/Islip won the team title earlier in the week.
“I’m just practicing consistently every single day,” Harper said. “I need to stay consistent to be ready for the state tournament.”
Gregg Sarra is Newsday's high school sports editor and has been on the beat since the mid-1980s.
