Sports blog: Warrior Nation
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By JOHN NASH

Villager Sports Editor

STAMFORD -- Her ankles ached and her sinuses throbbed, yet somehow Chelsea LeVander was able to overcome all of her maladies and win the 2010 FCIAC gymnastics all-around championship.

The Wilton High School sophomore won two individual championships and also placed second in another as she piled up 36.15 points and lead the Warriors to a second-place finish in Friday's meet held at Westhill High School.

Darien, riding a Blue Wave of depth that placed four gymnasts in the top six all-around slots, won the FCIAC title with 135.85 points.

Wilton eked out a 131.3 to 131.05 advantage over Trumbull for the second-place slot. Fairfield-Ludlowe was fourth with 126.35 while defending FCIAC champ Staples, which suffered severe graduation losses from a year ago, rounded out the top with 122.7 points.

Topping off the Warriors' night, though, was LeVander's all-around title.

"I'm a mess. I don't know how this happened," LeVander said with a laugh. "It's such an accomplishment."

A year ago, LeVander finished as the all-around runner-up. And, coming into this year's meet, everybody was expecting Darien's high-flying Morgan Whitehead and her wide array of difficult tricks to lead the way.

LeVander, however, proved that smooth and steady was a more reliable way to take top honors as Whitehead, a junior, suffered a fall on the beam and a handful of mistakes on uneven bars to place third overall (34.275) behind Trumbull's Katherine Flewelling (34.3).

"I've competed against Morgan forever and we always see her performing these big tricks," LeVander said. "But sometimes it's good to keep it short and simple."

LeVander got her meet started off in fine fashion, scoring a 9.3 on the uneven bars -- the highest score of the day by anybody, regardless of event.

She then followed that up with an 8.9 on the balance beam, taking the league title in that event, too, despite getting a head rush after her mount due to a sinus infection she's been battling for the last few days.

"I got off to a really slow start because of that," LeVander said. "I actually lowered my skills a little bit because of my ankles and because I've been sick."

A 9.1 on the floor and an 8.85 on the vault wrapped up her all-around championship.

"It was pretty amazing. She had a marvelous meet," said Wilton head coach Gary Chadwick. ""You have to perform on the night you have to perform and Chelsea was right on the money."

The Warriors had eight different gymnasts contribute to their second-place showing.

Senior co-captain Stephanie Jones went 8.7 on floor, 8.4 on vault and 7.9 on bars; senior co-captain Mallory Piedmont notched a 7.9 on beam and a 7.4 on bars; sophomore Haley Shaughnessy chipped in with a 8.2 on beam and 6.8 on bars; junior Lea Ceasrine vaulted to an 8.15 score; and freshmen Lauren Kozakiewicz (8.7 on vault) and Megan Daversa (7.5 on floor) made their first FCIAC championship meet appearances count.

Jones' floor exercise routine left her third in the league while Kozakiewicz's career high on vault placed her fifth.

"We were third last year and second year this -- and barely second because it was closer than I thought," said Chadwick. "But Darien just has that depth that if somebody makes a mistake, they've got somebody else that can cover for them."

Most of Darien's points came out of its big four -- Whitehead, Charlotte Morgan (4th, all-around, 34.075), Katherine Mosher (tied for 5th, all-around, 33.25), and Katie Southworth (6th, all-around, 33.2).

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