RUTLAND—In only their second competition of the season, the Cobra gymnasts trusted their training and delivered their routines at the Vermont state championships April 10-11 in Essex. The 40-member team is divided into five different levels of the USA Gymnastics Xcel Program. Following strict Covid policy, each gym in Vermont was assigned a different time to compete and all anxiously awaited the results by the end of the weekend. For a complete list of scores, visit vermontgymnastics.com.
The top scoring gymnasts in each event contribute their scores to the team total.
Diamond Team
Cobra’s Diamond Team won first place.
Cobra’s Diamond Team earned a first place finish with a 111.525 and qualified all of its team members — Jada Hughes, Maleah Jones, Lissa King and Robin Tashjian — to the Vermont State Team for the regional championships in May.
Hughes, of Wallingford, placed first in her age group on all events and won the all-around title with a 37.575.
Jones, of Rutland, a nine-year member of the team, won the balance beam, floor and all-around titles in her age group.
Tashjian, of Manchester, won both bars and vault titles in her age group.
Silver Team
Cobra’s Silver Team won 2nd Place.
The Silver Team earned a second place finish out of a large field with a 111.70.
Romi Buckley of Manchester, Lacy Carmack of Danby, Alice Charron of West Rutland, Chloe Ellison of Rutland, Eda Fioretti of Middletown Springs and Lexi Juarez of Rutland all contributed to the Silver Team score.
Juarez qualified for the Vermont State Team and Charron qualified for the All-Star Team at the regional championships as well.
The Bronze Team
Cobra’s Alexa Kojak, Bronze Bar State Champion performs on floor.
The Bronze Team represented the youngest and newest members of the Cobra team and showed up with determination and joy to claim a second place finish with a 111.625.
London Febbie of Londonderry, Alexa Kojak of Manchester, Amelia and Olivia Gibbs of Brandon, Hazel Mabey of Wallingford, Jessica Poczobut of West Rutland and Nora Woods of Dorset contributed to the team score. In their respective age groups, Kojak scored a 9.525 on bars to claim her first state title while Woods scored her personal best on bars, 9.575, to claim her first state title.
Cobra’s Bronze Team won 2nd place.
The Platinum Team
Cobra’s Platinum Team won 4th place.
The Platinum Team placed third with a 105.325 and while typically a five member team, only three were able to attend the competition. Karena Kuehl of Rutland, Nadia Tarbell of Danby and Mia Harrington of Danby contributed all of their scores. Kuehl, an eight-year member of the team, qualified for the All-Star Team at regional championships.
The Gold Team
Cobra’s Gold Team won 4th place.
The Gold Team placed fourth with a 106.375. Alivia Cerina of Londonderry, Eliza Dopkins of Arlington, Danika Polli of Florence and Phoebe Tashjian of Manchester contributed to the team score.
Tashjian claimed the bars, beam and all-around state titles.
The team will continue to train throughout the spring and summer months and are excited to build their repertoire with fun new tricks and skills, said Shelby Collette, owner of Cobra Gymnastics & Dance. The gym will be undergoing a new ceiling renovation in the coming months to accommodate growing athletes. The team spent time over their spring break restructuring the equipment to prepare for the upgrade. Cobra will host summer camps and classes and looks forward to a full reopening in the fall.