Osmundsen wins all-around in Nassau state qualifier
Hicksville junior Allison Osmundsen performs her floor routine during the Nassau Individual State Tournament qualifier at Bethpage High School. She won the all-around with a score of 36.925. (Feb. 24, 2010) Credit: James A. Escher
Hicksville's Allison Osmundsen was the last gymnast to go at the Nassau Individual State Tournament qualifier and as she finished her floor routine to the intense tune of the Transiberian Orchestra's "Carol of the Bells," the audience at Bethpage High School seemed to stop with her. When the music ceased, all eyes were on Osmundsen's erect form.
With last year's first-place finisher, Rebecca Feinman, out from gymnastics this year and the second-place finisher, Brianna Quinn, out with a broken ankle, the path to the top all-around score was relatively unobstructed for the Hicksville senior. Not that Osmundsen needed much help.
Osmundsen finished with a 36.925 and took top scores in floor (9.25) and beam (9.3) to claim first place. Long Beach's Jenny Kaufman grabbed second with a 36.675, partially on the force of her explosive vault, which earned her the night's highest score, a 9.6. Kaufman landed two Yurchenko layouts - a high-difficulty vault that entails a roundoff handspring onto the table into a fully extended aerial flip.
"It feels good to make it," Osmundsen said. "It was a lot of hard work to get through the injuries."
She hurt her back and hip during the summer and had been struggling to regain her form through the pain.
Oceanside's Diana Tolaj took the final all-around spot with a 35.475, finishing with a 9.025 on vault.
The top three all-around performers and the top three gymnasts in each event are chosen to represent Nassau at Saturday's state tournament at Cold Spring Harbor.
"I'm just happy ," Kaufman said.
On vault, Oceanside's Cheyenne Blumberg, Wantagh's Lindsay Heney and Plainview's Jordan Sack qualified. The top finishers in beam were Plainview's Ilana Simhon and Danielle Sadick, and Bethpage's Erin Roach. Roach also placed in the uneven bars, along with Blumberg and Plainview's Victoria Vitale. The floor qualifiers were Heney, Vitale and Hewlett's Ali Bezalel.
Heney will be unable to attend the state meet and will be replaced by Oceanside's Paige McCarthy on vault and Roach on floor.
For her own floor exercise - the one that stopped the Bethpage gym - Osmundsen said she was simply happy to execute. "It's a struggle with my back and hip," she said. "It feels so good."
