For a team that lost the No. 1 gymnast in the state, Central High School showed few negative effects in its first meet of the season. On Monday, Dec. 17, the Little Green traveled to Pinkerton, where they beat the hosts, 123.2 to 113.55.

“This gives us some momentum going into the rest of the season, which is great because we have our biggest team yet this year,” said coach Meg Norklun of the 15-member squad. “We hope to have one of the best teams yet this year, and to do that we need to try to get as many girls involved in the scoring as possible.”

Last season, the team goal was to finish among the top two in the state and reach New Englands, but the Little Green placed third and missed regionals.

This year, Norklun said she has the pieces in place to build on last season’s success.

Against Pinkerton, sophomore Ainsley Smith led Central as the team’s lone all-around competitor.

Totaling 33.45 points individually, Smith lost by a tenth of a point to John Stark’s Kayla Parcells.

Smith placed in all four events, including an 8.55 first-place effort on the vault and second-place showings on bars, floor and beam.

“It’s a lot of work,” said Smith. “We practice five or six days a week, at least four hours each day, and it’s a lot of mental preparations for everything you do. It’s scary, most of it.”

And while it is clear to Norklun that Smith is the best gymnast on the team, and possibly one of the best in the state, the coach said it is unfair, at this point, to compare her to Nicole Simoneau, the two-time New Hampshire champ who graduated after posting a score of 36.6 at last year’s state competition.

“(Smith) brings a lot of talent, she brings a lot of energy, and she brings a high gymnastics skill level, which the other girls look up to. She’s been a good leader,” said her coach. “But each individual gymnast is different, and we don’t want to put that pressure on Ainsley because the team doesn’t just rely on her.

As we saw last year and the year before, Nicole was a wonderful gymnast, but you need a solid team effort as well, so we’re hoping the team rises to the occasion with Ainsley this year.”

Other locals Competing for Pembroke were Audrey Bowden and Kelsey Dobe.

In her first high school meet, Bowden finished with a score of 29.15, including a 7.95 on vault, but was edged by her teammate, Dobe, who scored 29.95 in the all-around and tallied an 8.1 on vault.

Their coach, Kristen Paradis, said she was pleased with both performances, adding the event provides Dobe and Bowden a solid foundation on which to build.

“It’s gymnastics. It’s a different thing every day,” she said.

“Somebody can hit it and somebody is going to crash, and it could be the same person each day. It could be a different person each day. As long as they’re having fun doing it, then that’s fine. Everything’s good.”

Since they attend schools that don’t have full teams, those competing independently need to participate in the four all-around competitions to qualify for a chance at the state championship.

Other area gymnasts participating at Pinkerton include West’s Jill Dusseault, who scored 29.6 in the all-around, and Trinity’s Alex Halle, who placed fourth by earning 31 points.