Osbourn Park wins state gymnastics title

By Dave Utnik

Published: February 22, 2008

VIRGINIA BEACH — Six Osbourn Park gymnasts leaned on the balcony railing and gazed intently down at the floor exercise mat Friday night. Determination and pride were etched in their facial expressions.

There was not a single trace of fear.

They’d come to Tallwood High School hoping to return home with a trophy at the Group AAA state gymnastics meet. On the bus ride from Manassas, they decided that even third place would be cool.

But once they arrived and found themselves actually challenging for first place, something completely unexpected happened: The defending champions suddenly wanted to defend their title.

So they huddled together, one gymnast’s arm wrapped around another’s shoulder and made this vow: “Let’s go out and prove to everybody we deserve this.”

Then Jacquie Teets, Megan McDonald, Briana Knox, Kayla Deitz, Sara Mogavero and Sam Garzione teamed up to score more points than they ever have before — and broke two records in the process – to become the first team since 2003 to win back-to-back state championships.

Not a single one of them was completely healthy – there were strained backs, sprained knees and sore ankles all over the place. But once the Yellow Jackets decided to make history, nothing stood in their way. Not Eastern Region champion Kellam or even beach power Hickory.

“We knew we had a shot last year. Coming in this year, after we saw Kellam’s and Hickory’s re-gional scores we were like, ‘Wow we’ll be lucky to finish in the top three.’ And we were prepared for that,” OP coach Mandy Seal said. “But after bars the girls all sat down and talked and decided they really wanted this.”

With 150.7 points, Osbourn Park established a new school and Prince William County scoring record and held off a late rally on vault by last-year’s runner-up, Kellam, to become only the fourth team in history to win consecutive state titles and the first since Princess Anne in 2003.

“They were announcing scores and we didn’t want them to do that because we didn’t want the girls to know,” Seal said. “But they did a really good job of tuning that out.

“Going into floor we told them, Kellam is going to their best event so we had to nail floor. We had to show and give everything they’ve got and they did. They floored it.”

As a result, the Yellow Jackets get to ride in something way better than a chartered bus.

“We get a limo,” Garzione said. “That’s the best part.”