Setting foot onto Bridgewater-Raritan High School’s massive campus after a long summer vacation can be quite an adjustment.
That timeframe needed to get acclimated, however, is extended for members of the Panthers’ fall sports squads, who each participate in their first state-sanctioned fall practices in August. Of course, this is done at the cost of a shorter-than-average summer “break” heading into the new school year.
Student-athletes at Bridgewater-Raritan do not seem to mind, especially given the success of the Panthers’ programs as a whole.
To further assist with this process is a generous amount of indoor and outdoor athletics facilities at Bridgewater-Raritan High School, if not a quick walk across the street from campus, that serve as home venues for the Panthers’ teams.
But walking may not be an option for members of Bridgewater-Raritan High School’s storied gymnastics’ team, not only because they will each need to conserve their feet for the floor, vault, bars, and beam events they will regularly compete in this fall.
Practices for Bridgewater-Raritan’s gymnasts are not located along Garretson Road: the main street that runs through the Panthers’ campus, but they are held a quick bus ride away at the Somerville YMCA.
Not exactly striking distance on foot from Bridgewater-Raritan High School, so practicing as early as August 18: the state’s official first day of gymnastics practices, definitely helps student-athletes like the Panthers’ gymnasts settle into the new school year.
“It really is a little rough, but we start gymnastics in the summer, so easing into it really helps,” explained of this transition by Bridgewater-Raritan junior Alison Lardieri, who was named to New Jersey’s All-State Gymnastics Teams to cap off both her first two years on campus as a freshman and sophomore.
“Everyone on the team is in the same position, and there is a lot of team bonding between sports and school.”
Not factoring in summer or in-season practices, there are only six guaranteed gymnastics meets scheduled in a one-month span at first glance of Bridgewater-Raritan’s online athletics schedule. Along with the Skyland Conference Championships (Friday, October 10) in between, this notably includes the Somerset County Gymnastics Championships (Friday, October 17), which Bridgewater-Raritan has now won four straight times entering the 2025 season to go with back-to-back state championships appearances.
So what happens in between during a season with just six guaranteed meets that makes this consistently-deep Panthers squad successful every year under the guidance of head coach Julie Zaneto?
Practice makes perfect, as the old saying goes.
Taking that same online schedule and viewing both practices and meets just since Monday, September 8: the beginning of the first full, five-day week of school, Bridgewater-Raritan has had practices at least three of the four possible weekdays after school from 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. just from Monday to Thursday alone. The Panthers’ bus leaves for the Somerville YMCA for these practices promptly at 2:45 p.m. each day: just 42 minutes after Bridgewater-Raritan High School’s 2:03 p.m. dismissal, and this process repeats weekly until the season’s final day in November.
Of course, with the Panthers’ actual meets in between, including their season opener at arch-rival Hillsborough High School on Wednesday evening.
As another old saying goes: hard work pays off.
Given both powerhouse squads reached the state finals one year ago, it was no surprise that sixth-ranked Bridgewater-Raritan (1-0) and seventh-ranked Hillsborough (1-1) dazzled in front of everyone who squeezed into the Raiders’ gym to watch their performances. Although both teams shook off early jitters, the Panthers’ quick surge during their first regular-season meet vaulted them to a statement 105.775-105.2 victory over Hillsborough Wednesday, September 17, in Hillsborough.
“It means a lot, because we had a lot of nerves coming into this,” said of the milestone triumph by Lardieri, who tallied a meet-high All-Around score of 35.65, including an evening-high 9.425 in the vault event.
“A meet like this can go either way, so we just have to have fun and do our best.”
Keeping in mind it is still the middle of September, two (2) All-Around scores of 35.5 or higher during the season can result in qualifying for the NJSIAA Individual State Championships, according to NJSIAA Gymnastics Tournament regulations.
In other words, Lardieri already once exceeded that mark in her team’s first meet of the season, and the Panthers avenged their lone regular-season loss from a productive fall 2024 in the process.
After collecting an All-State Second Team distinction in 2023, Lardieri earned an All-State First Team spot in 2024, when she punctuated her season with a score of 37.3 points (out of a possible 40 points, or an average of 9.325 points out of 10 per event) and the state’s All-Around bronze medal over her four events (floor, vault, bars, and beam) in the NJSIAA Gymnastics Individual State Championships.
What sets Bridgewater-Raritan apart from many of its competitors across New Jersey, however, is its overall depth.
Factoring in a team’s top three scorers out of five gymnasts who compete in each event during a meet, sophomore Talia West collected a score of 8.9, and junior Violette Cornfield tallied an 8.6 to go with Lardieri’s aforementioned 9.425 score: a total score of 26.925 just for this event.
Close to a nine-point average, this was not even the Panthers’ best overall event, and Lardieri’s score of 8.9 in the floor exercise was her team’s third-best score accounted for in Bridgewater-Raritan’s total.
Senior Jasmine Chen (9.0) and junior Sierra Marce (9.2) both reached the nine-point benchmark to lead the Panthers to a score of 27.1 just amongst the three results factored into the meets’ scoring. Even though the Panthers’ remaining two scores were not counted in the meet’s point total, junior Violette Cornfield and sophomore Talia West both achieved scores of 8.0 to round out Bridgewater-Raritan’s floor exercise scores: all eight points or higher.
That is a difficult feat to accomplish, let alone in the first meet of the season on the road. This is not only a testament to the Panthers’ depth, but the chemistry they have built over the summer that will continue to grow in the fall and beyond.
“This team has been awesome, and it’s such positive energy and a lot of fun,” credited Lardieri of her team’s success. “We all support each other. Our seniors really lead us and get us to where we need to be. They relax our nerves and teach us the way.”
“It just gets better and better every year.”
The Panthers’ floor exercise performances, along with their beam performances, ultimately were the difference in surging them to victory over Hillsborough. Marce led the way with a beam score of 9.25, while Chen (8.875) and Lardieri (8.625) rounded out Bridgewater-Raritan’s beam event victory, 26.75-26.325, to go with the Panthers’ 27.1-26.775 floor victory: a full three quarters of a point ahead of the Raiders between these two events, which both were contested during the second half of the meet.
For the bars event, Lardieri (8.7) joined Cornfield (8.0) and Bridgewater-Raritan senior Lauren Yang (8.3) for an event total of 25 points: only 0.05 point behind Hillsborough, which edged the Panthers by a score of 27.05-26.925 in the vault event.
Scoring for Hillsborough in defeat were as follows: Vault: Ashley Womack (9.25), Maddie Chiodo (9.1), Erin Gengler (8.7); Bars: Erin Gengler (8.5), Emily Minetti (8.325), Aysia Lee (8.225); Beam: Emily Minetti (9.05), Maddie Chiodo (8.65), Erin Gengler (8.625); Floor: Maddie Chiodo (9.225), Erin Gengler (9.0), Ashley Womack (8.55).
Freshman Erin Gengler (34.825) was the Raiders’ top All-Around performer in all four events.
A phenomenal showing as expected by both Bridgewater-Raritan and Hillsborough, which both finished as champion and runner-up, respectively, in each of the last four Somerset County Gymnastics Championships and will look to shine on New Jersey’s biggest stages again in 2025.
Sixth-ranked Bridgewater-Raritan will travel to Ridge High School for a quad-meet next against Ridge, North Hunterdon Regional High School, and Watchung Hills Regional High School at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, September 24, in Basking Ridge. The Panthers will then travel to Montgomery High School at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, October 1, in Skillman before preparing for the Skyland Conference Gymnastics Championships taking place Friday, October 10, at Hunterdon Central Regional High School in Flemington.
The Panthers will be seeking their first Skyland Conference Gymnastics Championships title since the 2021 season.
Bridgewater-Raritan will then travel to Hunterdon Central for a regular-season meet on the Red Devils’ floor Wednesday, October 15, before the three-time-defending county champion Panthers bid to defend their Somerset County Gymnastics Tournament crown for a fourth time Friday, October 17, at Montgomery High School in Skillman.
And if these six meets go as planned, there could be a seventh or eighth team meet for the Panthers again this fall.
According to the NJSIAA Gymnastics Tournament regulations: “The top 32 teams with the highest three (3) meet totals will qualify [for the Team Sectional Championships]. The top 32 teams will be snake seeded into four sections (A, B, C, D). The four (4) sectional winners and the next four (4) best [wild card] scores (from all sections) will move on to the state championship.”
The NJSIAA Section A, B, C, and D Gymnastics Championships will all be contested Saturday, November 1, at Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School in Scotch Plains (Section A), Saint Thomas Aquinas High School in Edison (Section B), Hillsborough High School in Hillsborough (Section C), and Manalapan High School in Manalapan (Section D).
The eight teams that advance to the NJSIAA Team Gymnastics Championships will compete on Thursday, November 6, at Brick Memorial High School in Brick. The NJSIAA Individual Gymnastics Championships will then be contested on Saturday, November 8, in Brick to close out the fall season.
For Bridgewater-Raritan, which will continue to prepare accordingly for these sets of bright lights, it will ride another key objective in reaching the big goals it has again in the fall 2025 season.
“Our number one goal is to have fun,” declared Lardieri. “We always like to do our best, but things happen and everybody makes mistakes. At bigger meets, we like to keep it nice and light, because we know that we can do it as long as we have fun.”
“Our long-term goal is that we want to keep relaxing and have fun, but our short-term goal is just to keep practicing.”