Smithtown's Bayla Goldberg wins all-around at Suffolk gymnastics, state qualifier meet
Bayla Goldberg of Smithtown during the Suffolk girls gymnastics individual championships/state qualifier on Friday in Babylon. Credit: Kelvin Loarca
After successfully helping Smithtown to its fourth county title in five years on Monday, all eyes were on Bayla Goldberg in the state individual qualifier meet. She did not disappoint.
Goldberg, a Utica University commit, wowed the crowd from beginning to end with a dominant performance to capture her first Suffolk all-around title at Babylon High School on Friday evening. She finished with a score of 38.25 (9.575 on vault, 9.625 on bars, 9.55 on beam, 9.5 on floor).
"I have trained for this my whole life," Goldberg said. "This is such an accomplishment for me to be on top finally."
Goldberg says the pressure doesn't faze her and wants to focus on the task at hand.
"I don't really think about the pressure," the senior said. "I just put in the work and the effort, and then I know I will get the outcome I was looking for."
Even though Goldberg looks forward to returning to the state tournament and representing Section XI, she's more excited to be with one of her closest friends: her teammate, Amanda Burns.
Burns finished second on beam with a 9.35.
"Since I joined the team, she has always been there for me," Burns said of Goldberg. "She will always make sure I am confident in myself. It feels so good knowing I'm going upstate with her. We both accomplished so many things. It feels good to go upstate with her."
Goldberg said: "We've been together on varsity for five years, and we have been getting closer and closer. We support each other so well, and we want the best for each other."
Burns had a rough start, but she didn't let the moment be her downfall; instead, she stayed true to herself and found herself right where she needed to be.
"I was actually shocked, I didn't think I would place that high," she said. "But it goes to show the hard work and the long hours I put into this sport."
Connetquot's Avery Melchiona also had an excellent performance, finishing second in the all-around in 36.875, first on floor with a personal-best 9.525, and second on vault with a personal-best 9.25.
"I'm so happy right now, this is the best-case scenario for myself," Melchiona said. "I saw my friend, and she told me I won floor and I started breaking down crying because I made it through my hardest event and I couldn't be more proud of myself."
Suffolk’s state gymnastics team will travel to Valley Gymnastics in Utica on Feb. 28 for the state championship meet.
"When you come to these kinds of events, it is the best of the best," Section XI's coordinator Joe Mercado said. "Watching these girls step up under the amount of pressure they have in their event is remarkable."
Jonathan Ruban covers high school sports for Newsday after graduating from St. John’s.
