WESTHAMPTON — The Raiders couldn’t have scripted a better ending to their Senior Night.
After a back-and-forth meet where Hampshire Regional needed to make up ground heading into the final event, the team put together a stellar floor performance. Led by junior Hailey Raffa, the Raiders earned them a whisper-thin victory.
Hampshire took home the win with 131.65 points, beating out Westfield by only half a point (131.15), while Agawam finished third with 121.35 points.
“It’s really nerve-racking,” Raffa said. “It just made us push harder on our last event because we knew we needed to make up for loss of points on beam, so it just made us work that much harder on our floor, and it paid off.”
Raffa did just that, earning a team-best 9.30 points on floor and giving the Raiders just the boost they needed to snatch the win from Westfield. She also walked away with the all-around title, ending her night with a score of 35.05.
The Raiders are riding an unbeaten streak this season, one that they hope can carry into the Western Mass. championships. Hampshire has home a sectional team title, but if the stars align for the Raiders, head coach Lisa Anthony thinks that this group may be able to change that. It’s especially meaningful this season because they didn’t get any closure at Western Mass. last year.
“This is a big win for us…I think Western Mass. is going to be super, duper close,” said Anthony. “It feels absolutely amazing because last year we won the league, but we never really did Western Mass., so there was never a final completion of who won Western Mass. Going in this year, it’s a little tougher – we lost a good senior last year and then we lost a senior this year. (But) it’s an awesome team, they get along, they’re very cohesive. It’s a young team as well… so we’re excited for Western Mass.”
The Raiders had hoped to win by a larger margin Thursday, but struggled on the balance beam and uneven bars. Anthony stressed that whichever team comes in and has the best day will walk away with the title. For Hampshire, it would be the cherry on top of a close and successful season.
First meet coverage for @DailyHampGaz is a gymnastics meet!
Hampshire Regional senior Hannah Wodecki competes on uneven bars during the team’s senior night. pic.twitter.com/ubmvlSK7NK
— Hannah Bevis (@Hannah_Bevis1) October 21, 2021
“I’ll keep my fingers crossed,” said Anthony. “We have to have a good day. Whoever wins Western Mass. is going to have to come in and have a good day that day.”
Thursday was a measuring stick meet for the Raiders. They have the performers to win a title – athletes like Tyler Hetu, Skyler Duda, Hannah Wodecki, and Avery Tudryn, among others, were part of the team’s success and have been all season. But senior captain Wodecki stressed that Thursday was a glimpse into what could be for the Raiders, provided they put in the extra effort to produce a more solid performance.
“It definitely allowed us to see what it feels like to be that close,” Wodecki said. “(We) know that we have to push that much harder so it’s not that close next time.”