Kowalik wins all-around title, ‘Canes finish third at states

Matt Metcalf, Sports Editor
Posted 2/24/15

Three-time champions don’t come around too often in Rhode Island high school gymnastics – try just four times since the state championship meet began in 1973.

The fourth occurred on Sunday at …

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Kowalik wins all-around title, ‘Canes finish third at states

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Three-time champions don’t come around too often in Rhode Island high school gymnastics – try just four times since the state championship meet began in 1973.

The fourth occurred on Sunday at Rhode Island College, as Warwick Vets senior Candis Kowalik captured her third all-around title, edging North Kingstown’s Allison Dibiase, who was a close second.

Kowalik won her first title during her freshman year, but missed the state championships in her sophomore year due to an injury.

After regaining the title last year, Kowalik was focused to go out on top this year – and she did.

“It feels very good to get the individual title for a third time,” Kowalik said. “There was a lot of pressure coming in. I think it made me feel worse that I had won before. But it just feels amazing to come out on top.”

Kowalik’s coach Stacy Capone-Melino has seen Kowalik thrive under pressure time after time.

“When Candis has to do well, she’ll do well,” Capone-Melino said. “She can just pull it out. Today she thought she had a terrible bar routine, but it was still good with a 9.0. But she got on the beam and got a 9.8 with a perfect, flawless routine.”

Kowalik finished with a point total of 37.875 – a new meet record. Dibiase wasn’t far behind at 37.625.

Kowalik earned first place on the vault with a score of 9.675 and in the beam with a 9.8. Her lowest score of the day was in the bars with a 9.05, earning Kowalik fourth place. Kowalik’s score of 9.35 in the floor slotted her in second.

Kowalik, who is the team’s captain, was a visible leader on Sunday, cheering on her teammates throughout the meet.

“She’s always cheering her teammates on and is very positive,” Capone-Melino said. “She’s tough on the kids and they need that. We’re definitely going to miss that next year.”

As a team, the co-Division I dual meet champions, didn’t perform as well as they could have.

The ‘Canes finished in third place with 135.3 points behind second-place La Salle and state champion North Kingstown. The Skippers regained the title – winning in 2013, before La Salle captured its 11th state championship last year.

Vets moved up to Division I this year after winning the Division II title last year.

Although the program had an unbelievable season, there was still some disappointment following the meet on Sunday.

“We didn’t have our best performance today, we definitely could’ve done better,” Kowalik said.

However, for Kowalik, the progression in the program has been steady throughout her four years.

“We have grown so much,” Kowalik said. “My freshman year, we were barely scoring 120’s and now we’re scoring 135’s on a bad day. The girls that came in as freshmen last year have improved so much. Not only do they have to live up to the judge’s expectations, they have to live up to mine. I support them 100-percent, but they also help me out.”

Other Vets’ gymnasts who contributed on Sunday were Danielle Breault, Tess Brussick, Ashley Clift, Tierra Frey, Brianna Steinberg and Sloan Kinney.

After leading the ‘Canes from Division II to the top of Division I this year, Capone-Melino was given the Coach of the Year award on Sunday, highlighting her dedication to the program.

Vets’ third-place finish qualified it for the New England Championships, as the top three teams in the state earned bids to the tournament.

New England’s will be held on March 14 in New Hampshire.

The ‘Canes are hoping to improve from now until then and place well at the meet.

“We’re definitely going to look to improve and get higher than a 135,” Kowalik said. “I think that we’ll do much better at New England’s. We’re going to go back and drill what we fell on and did wrong. We’ll do it 1000 times until it’s perfect.”

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