BY SAPNA PATHAK

They’re nimble, lithe, limber and agile. They have contortion capabilities most yoga instructors would envy. They spend hours training at school and private facilities, building strength and flexibility.

They’re also the most athletic and, probably, strongest guys roaming the halls of Salem High.

The Blue Devils showed off their skills when they hosted this year’s Salem Invitational Boys Gymnastics meet, welcoming six Bay State squads on Saturday, Jan. 20; the hosts finished third with 155.1 points.

The meet serves as Salem’s only home meet because SHS has the only boys gymnastics team in the Granite State.

“This is for my guys who work so much all year,” said Salem head coach Steve Ring. “It’s our way to open our gym to others, and I’m proud of this meet. But I mostly take pride in it for the guys.”

Though the meet, according to Ring, was most likely his last as head coach, there were plenty of surprises during the six-event competition to make him question his decision.

The first came when the gym doors opened to a crowd much larger than anything Ring had anticipated. Then the Blue Devils, led by captains Jordan Kusch and Dave Bosch, took the floor.

Freshman Nick Miles provided Ring with another reason to smile, earning fourth in the all-around with 48.5 points.

In his first year away from a private gym as part of a school team, Miles is shaping up as the team’s next leader.

He scored an 8.6 on the floor exercise, 7.0 on the pommel horse, 8.1 on the high bar, 8.5 on the parallel bar, 7.0 on the still rings and a 9.0 on the vault.

“Today was huge, especially because my freshman took fourth all-around and he was someone I’d never known about until this year,” Ring said. “He’s [Miles] a tough gymnast to leave. So is Sean Fallon. It’ll be hard to walk away from guys with that kind of potential.”

Fallon, a sophomore, scored 39.4 points, 5.3 shy of a sixth-place finish. He finished in fourth place on the floor exercise, posting a score of 8.1. He scored an 8.4 on the vault, 7.0 on the high bar and parallel bars, 5.7 on the still rings and 3.4 on the pommel horse.

But it was the act of sportsmanship before the meet that had Ring bragging about his gymnasts.

“Jordan [Kusch] would’ve done the all-around, but he stepped down to let Sean compete,” said Ring.

“There was no ‘I’m a senior, I’m a captain,’ about it. He just said he’d do five events and wanted Sean to try for all-around.”

Kusch scored an 8.0 on the vault, good for fifth place. He added a 6.2 on the floor exercise, 5.5 on the parallel bars, 4.8 on the high bar and 4.4 on the pommel horse.

Pleasant surprises aside, Ring’s real challenge comes from finding time to keep Salem’s boys gymnastics program going. A lack of funding and interest in the sport, plus trying to find a dedicated replacement, account for most of Ring’s concerns.

“This year was our first being invited to the Massachusetts Coaches Invitational,” said Ring. “I’m afraid the program will go under if I leave. It’s a lot of work and effort, not just from me, but the team as well. Hopefully it continues and we see many more of these meets in Salem.”