LAWRENCE - For three years, since they were freshmen, JacquelynRudis and Kellie Ryan wrote letters. They wrote to the CentralCatholic High School principal, the athletic director, theadministration, the board of directors. They wrote to anyone whomattered.
Their letters all asked for the same thing: that Central Catholicinstitute a girls gymnastic team.
Dozens of letters and stamps later, their perseverance has paidoff.
Rudis and Ryan are seniors now and cocaptains of CentralCatholic's first girls gymnastics team, and the two bubbled withenthusiasm after Central defeated Pope John of Everett this month inthe school's inaugural meet.
'It's like a dream come true, finally,' said Rudis, who lives inNorth Andover. 'I'm disappointed I'll only be in the program oneyear, but I'm happy that we finally have a gymnastics team. I wouldhave really been disappointed if we got it after I graduated. Butit's good for my sister [Annaliese], who's just a sophomore. She'llhave three years.'
Ryan, who comes from Dracut, was just as enthusiastic.
'It's so amazing to be a part of the first team,' she said.'Jacquelyn and I have been trying to get one started for so long. Wewrote so many letters. Years from now, I'll be able to say I wascocaptain of the first Central Catholic team.' Ryan will also be ableto add that she was the first winner on the balance beam and all-around.
The letters Rudis and Ryan wrote prompted Central Catholicofficials to conduct a schoolwide survey asking students which girlssports should be added. Gymnastics was a close second to field hockeyand was chosen because the school offered just three winter sportsfor girls basketball, indoor track, and cheerleading. Field hockey,as well as lacrosse, which finished third in the survey, will beconsidered down the road, said athletic director Peter Paladino.
'Since going coed eight years ago, we've tried to match up as manygirls sports as we could,' said Paladino. 'We want the girls to haveequal opportunities. We made good matches with cross-country, soccer,volleyball, basketball, indoor and outdoor track, tennis, andsoftball. We didn't have anything for the girls equivalent tofootball or ice hockey or wrestling. In looking at the whole picture,there were less programs for the girls. As Central Catholic grew, wewanted to increase the opportunities.'
Once Central Catholic officials gave gymnastics the go-ahead, theattention then turned to finding a coach. That, said Paladino, provedto be a bit easier than they had anticipated.
Caitlin Worth, 23 and fresh out of Ithaca College with a degree inmath, had applied for a teaching position. During the interviewprocess, she said she had a gymnastics background and expressed aninterest in the job.
Worth 'went through the coaching interview process, and it waslike, `Wow,' she just knocked our socks off,' said Paladino. 'It wasgreat knowing that we could have a coach who was also a teacher inthe system. That's a big plus.'
Worth, who was an All-Conference gymnast at Masconomet RegionalHigh School and then competed during her junior and senior years atIthaca, said she expected maybe 15 to 20 girls to report to the firstpractice. Instead, she got 35. That number forced her to make somehard decisions, such as how many girls to carry on the roster, andhow to, if needed, make painful cuts.
'The team basically ended up putting itself together,' said Worth,who wound up with a roster of 18, consisting of three seniors, fourjuniors, nine sophomores, and two freshmen. 'You could tell who wascommitted. They were the ones that showed up every day. There weresome who'd come occasionally and some who never showed up at all. Itmade our decisions a lot easier.'
Worth had four weeks to prepare for the historic opener againstPope John and said it was a bit more difficult than it should havebeen because of new rules that went into effect this year. Instead ofusing Level 9 USA Gymnastics rules that apply skill levels like A, B,C, D, and E, the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Associationdecided to go with National High School Federation rules, which applyskill levels including medium, superior, high superior, and bonushigh superior.
'We got our routines to match up pretty well with the new rules,'said Worth. 'It was the judges that seemed to have more difficulty.Our meet with Pope John lasted more than three hours because theyjust weren't sure how to apply the rules. Under the old rules, themeet probably would have been complete in less than two hours.'
Nonetheless, Central Catholic prevailed, 128.55 to 119.75, and thefirst winners included Ryan in the all-around and beams, AnnalieseRudis in the vault and floor exercises, and Alison Conway of Lowellon the bars.
'I knew they had the talent to perform, but I didn't know how theywould compete,' said Worth. 'They really rose to the occasion. Theyall hit their routines at the same time. They proved themselves toughcompetitors. I was happy and relieved when the meet was over. Winningour first meet is something none of us will forget.'
John Vellante can be reached at vellante@globe.com.
