When the idea of coaching a gymnastics team at Pelham High came up in prior months, Amanda Iwanicki half-jokingly agreed.

She wanted to coach and has, at one level or another, for the previous six years. But she didn’t really think it would come to anything with the Pythons.

So when the call came in from the I’Anson family a few weeks before Thanksgiving about taking over the newly created program, Iwanicki was a little taken aback.

“I mean, I’m a senior in college, I’m graduating in May, so I’m busy enough,” said Iwanicki, an education major at Fitchburg State College.

She has Pelham practicing at Mill City Gymnastics in Tewksbury, Mass., where she’s trained most of her life and runs, with her mother, a gymnastics program for children with disabilities.

It’s there where she first met Chelsea I’Anson, the team’s sophomore captain, who has helped out with the program for disabled children for years.

“But I was like, ‘Why not?’ Iwanicki continued. “’Let’s go do it.’”

Weeks later, it seems the Pythons are ready to take a lot of people by surprise.

Competing in its first meet Monday, Dec. 18, as a varsity team, Pelham finished in third with 121.35 points at Salem High, just 3.85 points back of Concord and roughly 12 behind Salem.

Thanks to a 13-person roster – a number that far exceeded Iwanicki’s, her gymnasts’ and perhaps most people’s expectations for a first-year team – Pelham found the depth to stay with its more established opponents, taking three second-place and three third-place finishes.

Senior captain Julie Loosigian finished third in the all-around, thanks to a tie for second on the balance beam with an 8.5 and a third-place finish on the uneven bars with an 8.1; all-around performer Brandee Peglow took second in the vault with an 8.9 and second in the floor exercise with 9.05 points; and I’Anson – whose mother, Bonnie, was a major force behind the team’s creation – placed third on the beam with an 8.4.

For most start-ups, breaking 100 for a meet is the goal, Iwanicki said. To take 121.35, she said, is a lot to expect in the team’s first competition.

But winning meets is far from Iwanicki’s goal. With the majority of her gymnasts participating for the first time – or for the first time in a long time – the coach’s focus is on improvement and, more importantly, fun.

Having a good-sized squad that could grow to nearly 20 next year only makes it more enjoyable. Iwanicki said she had at least six girls call once the season started asking if they could join late.

“I was really surprised (about the amount of interest),” I’Anson said. “I was thinking there would be four of us and then we end up having 13 here. So I’m really excited about it.”

Pelham is looking for contributions from everyone throughout the year, including Alanna Flanagan, who placed fourth on the team on the vault Monday; Yvonne Figueiredo, who took fourth for Pelham on the uneven bars; and Amber Faucher, who placed third for the squad in the vault and fourth in both the floor exercise and on the beam.

Seabrina Blais, Breanne Brown, Stacey Chadwick, Emily Cover, Shauna Legatos, Jess Morin and Kelly Riddinger should also play key roles in the team’s inaugural season.