Roslyn's Shani Sirota wins third straight Nassau all-around title
Shani Sirota of Roslyn concludes her balance beam routine during the Nassau gymnastics individual championships and state qualifier at Roslyn on Tuesday. Credit: James Escher
Shani Sirota had the three-peat within reach.
And she completed it with a clean sweep.
The Roslyn senior came away not only the all-around champion at the Nassau gymnastics individual championships/state qualifiers for the third consecutive year, but also won every event in the process Tuesday night at Roslyn.
Sirota scored a 37.80 in the all-around, as well as 9.525 on the vault, 9.45 on the uneven bars, 9.50 on the balance beam and 9.325 in the floor exercise.
Despite entering the event with lofty expectations placed upon her as the two-time defending all-around champion, Sirota said pursuing her third straight all-around title was never her primary focus.
"I just wanted to have fun tonight and really just give it my all," Sirota said. "Starting on beam made me a little nervous but after that I just put everything out there and had fun. I’m happy that I went four-for-four. I did my best cheering on my teammates around me and it went well."
Sirota advances to the state championships at Kenmore West High School in Buffalo on March 5. She’ll look to win her first state title since winning the floor exercise as a freshman.
"I’m excited and I think we have a really strong team and should do well," said Sirota, who placed fourth in the all-around, third on vault and fourth on bars as a sophomore the last time the state championships were held in 2020. "I’m just going to stay focused on what I do well."
Roslyn coach Stephanie Orfini said Sirota’s consistent composure is a major contributor toward her immense success.
"She’s such a calm, cool competitor," Ofini said. "She just practices the way she’s going to compete. She’s here smiling and having a great time.
"We’re hoping that she’ll place on some events and she definitely has the routines to do so. We’ll bump up the floor and balance beam difficulty. She’s capable of placing, has done it before and we hope she can do it again."
Also included amongst Nassau’s state team will be Syosset’s Allie Jacobs, Leah Chin and Jenna Kolberg as well as Plainview-Old Bethpage JFK’s Alyssa Sanborn and Marissa Schlossman and Massapequa’s Lyla Murphy.
Nassau gymnastics coordinator Kim Rhatigan commended Sirota on her victorious performances despite the outside pressure placed upon her.
"Shani’s done this before and she came in the favorite," Rhatigan said. "This wasn’t her first rodeo and it was a lot of pressure on her. I’m happy for her that she had such a successful, awesome meet.
"I’m fired up for Nassau County now that we’re heading up to Buffalo. Shani is going to do great things there and we have a lot of good depth on the team. We want to have a really strong showing up there.
After earning the three-peat, Rhatigan believes Sirota isn’t done showing off all of her skills.
"I think Shani has a very good chance of winning," Rhatigan said. "I don’t think she did all her skills here that she could do once she gets on a spring floor. So she’s got another level of skills that she’ll do in Buffalo that will hopefully earn her a medal in the all-around. I’m so happy and proud that she’s a Nassau County kid."
