Bethpage-Tribune_2001-03-23

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YOUR^^OFFICIAL HOMETOWN NEV\
VOL. 35 NO. 12 MARCH 23-29, 2001 40 Cents
Record Breaking Season For Girls Gymnastics Team!!
i by Kim Rhatigan-Drexler, Coach Bethpage-Plainview Gymnastics Team •
The Bethpage-Plainview Girls
Gymnastics Team successfully
defended its championship and
became the 3-time Nassau County
Champions this year!!! The
gymnasts were undefeated
throughout the season with 10 wins
and no losses. The team had many
accomplishments through the
season. Led by senior Co-Captains
and All County Sarah Lowenthal and
All County Taryn Rut, the team
broke the Nassau County record
held by Massapequa by scoring a
173.375 at the Team Championships.
This was a big goal for the team and
they worked very hard to achieve it.
Every time they made a goal for the
team, they would surpass it and go
for the next level.
Taryn and Sarah have had very
successful careers on the
gymnastics team, both being the
most consistent high scorers in all
their years on the team. Their
leadership and sportsmanship will be
remembered by her teammates, as
they were role models to the younger
gymnasts. Taryn gave the team
tremendous energy all season. She
led the team on the uneven bars and
the vault. Taryn was instrumental in
providing team spirit and could
always be counted on to come
through for the team. Sarah finished
her season with a career high score
of 9.175 on the balance beam at the
State Qualifier. Sarah devoted many
hours to help choreograph many
routines for her teammates. There
were many other individual
accomplishments as well. Freshman
Doreen Baram took 2nd in the All
Around at the Nassau County
Championships and took home a 5th
place medal on the floor exercise at
the New York State Gymnastics
Championships. Doreen also broke a
Bethpage-Plainview Record (1997 -
lla Goldstein) by scoring a 37.175 in
the All Around at the State Qualifier
and a 9.6 on the floor exercise.
Doreen continues to be one of the
top gymnasts in New York State!
Joining Doreen at the State
Championships was 8th grader
Bonnie Scott. Bonnie had a great
season as she was a consistent high
scorer for the team on the uneven
bars. The team looks to many more
years of success with Bonnie! Ninth
grader All-County Taylor Rut was
instrumental in the team's successes
and consistently scored in the- top 3
all season Taylor took 5th Place in
the All Around at the
Championships raytoi was one of
trie team's top scorers on floor
exercise and beam all season. The
Dynamic Duo of Taylor and Doreen
will continue to have successes in
the future and hopefully lead the
team to more championships! All
County Caralyn Vasquez provided
the team with solid and consistent
scores throughout the season and
largely contributed to the depth of
the team. Caralyn is a future leader
and support for our team. All County
Victoria Reese was one of the
highest and talented scorers on the
team and narrowly missed qualifying
for the State Team. The team will
look to Vicky next season for
leadership and continued success in
the All around. Ninth grader All
County Stephanie Sepe continued
her hard work this season, as she
was one of the top scorers on floor.
Stephanie had a career high score of
8.9 on the floor exercise and has
tremendous potential for future
successes. Newcomer freshman All
County Melissa Wierzbowski
provided the team with tremendous
depth and high scores all season.
Melissa was one of the highest
scorers on vault and was seeded 3rd
in the county! Melissa will continue
to have success in the gymnastics
career.
Sophomore Meredith Feller had
tremendous improvement on the
vault and was promoted to the "A"
squad for her hard work and
success. Brynn Peters took 9th place
out of 60 gymnasts on balance beam
at the Nassau Coaches Invitational.
Sophomore Tracy Schwartz
attended the Coaches Invitational
and scored a career high 7.8 on the
floor exercise this season. Tal
Kupperman, Jillian Paff, Angie Shin,
Jen Ryan, Ivy Lesser, Sarah
Hirschhom, Rachael Spoergel and
Erica Berkowitz worked hard
throughout the season learning new
skills and reaching their goals. The
coaches look to them in the
upcoming years as they fine tune
their skills.
All 20 gymnasts had personal
goals they achieved as well as team
victories. They were successful
because they practice what they
preached - Together Everyone
Achieves More! This is a very special
team who worked hard at staying
together and cheering each other on
Special thanks to Assistant Coach
Debbie Rut who gave trie team great
energy all season WE could not
have had our successes without her'
We look forward to next season With
anticipation1
Bethpage-Plainview Girls Gymnastics Team.
Captains Sarah Lowenthal and Taryn Rut.
Quick Response to Student Threat
On Monday, March 19, a
Bethpage student alerted the school
building administration about a
student who allegedly posted a new
set of threats on a Web site bulletin
board. This prompted the District to
contact the Nassau County Police.
The Police and the District
immediately began their
investigation and have worked
aggressively to address the situation
and ensure the safety of all the
District's students and staff. The
student, who allegedly made the
threats, is currently not in school
"We are pleased that the issue
was addressed quickly and
decisively," said Superintendent of
Schools Harvey Hilburgh "The
actions of an individual student to
report the threat to the principal
serves as a model to all students
who become aware of threats made
by students against sc hool buildings,
staff or students We wish to express
our sincere appreciation to this
student. And on behalf of our
community, I want to also thank the
Nassau County Police."
The District has heightened its
efforts to maintain safe and secure
schools. In February, the District
added additional security personnel.
On March 9 the District conducted a
teacher staff development
conference in the Bethpage High
School Auditorium to address a
number of safety and security
initiatives. Topping the list was the
District's implementation of Project
SAVE (Sate Schools Against
Violence in Education Act), a school
safety/violence prevention training
program A nationally recognized
expert in the field of school Safety
provided training to all staft
members, as well as spui ial
workshops tor the newly formed
building safety teams