West Islip's Anna Hall, three years removed from back fractures, wins two events at Suffolk gymnastics finals
Anna Hall of West Islip competes in the uneven bars event at the Suffolk girls gymnastics individual championships and state qualifier on Friday, Nov. 6 2026, in West Islip. Credit: Peter Frutkoff
What a week it has been for West Islip freshman Anna Hall — and it almost never happened.
Hall scored a 9.325 on both the balance beam and the vault, winning each event at the Suffolk individual gymnastics championships at West Islip High School on Friday night. She also placed fifth in the floor exercise by scoring a 9.25 and finished second overall in the all-around competition with a 36.1.
“I worked hard for this, so I’m very proud about it,” Hall said. “When I was on the podium, it didn’t feel like it was real. Being up there, I felt like I wasn’t in my body.”
Hall’s performance was a perfect encore to Tuesday night’s team championship meet, when she won the aforementioned three events and the all-around to lead West Islip to victory. Perhaps more importantly, her pair of individual county titles completed a comeback story that she has been working on for three years.
As a sixth-grader, Hall suffered four fractures in her back, and now has spondylolisthesis. She struggled to get out of bed and walk. She was forced to wear a jacket that she said resembled a turtle shell. Naturally, she wanted to quit the sport.
“I didn’t think I’d ever put another leotard on again,” Hall said.
However, during her recovery days, she took a particular liking to professional Brazilian gymnast Rebeca Andrade, whose best event is the floor, which Hall related to. Hall decided to stick with the sport, just to give herself a chance to be something like her.
Now, Hall is the only double-champion on the Suffolk gymnastics scene. The performance helped honor her late aunt, Erin Powers, who died in 2020, she said.
“She used to tell me she saw a spark in me,” Hall said. “I was thinking about her. I think it’s very cool to know that I did this.”
Shoreham-Wading River senior Alyssa Wood — who competes for the Floyd/Longwood/Eastport-South Manor/Shoreham-Wading River/Rocky Point/Center Moriches team — won the uneven bars with a 9.35. West Islip senior Emily Ball won the floor with a 9.525.
West Babylon senior Leah Kutchens — who competes for the combined Lindenhurst/West Babylon team — won the all-around with a 36.225. She placed second on bars (8.95), third on floor (9.35), sixth on beam (8.975) and seventh on vault (8.95).
“I’m so excited,” Kutchens said. “I felt a lot of pressure because I placed third last year, but I’m happy I didn’t let the nerves get to me, and I’m just really proud of myself.”
Mike Anderson is a high school sports reporter who has covered 12 sports so far at Newsday. He was the sports editor of Stony Brook University's campus newspaper for two years.
