For one squad, it was the final battle in a war of attrition. For another, it was a less-personal fight than the one about to ensue in its hometown.

The NHIAA girls gymnastics championships, at Salem High School on Saturday, Feb. 9, saw the host Lady Blue Devils win their seventh state title in 18 years and second in a row.

“The personalities are so different each year,” said Salem head coach Ginnie LaVallo. “I’ve had really successful teams that I didn’t enjoy nearly as much as teams that finished third or fourth in the state, but when you have a group that gets along and has fun, and you can win too, that’s something special, and that’s something you have this year.”

The second-year Pelham Lady Pythons, on the other hand, finished 11th with a score of 109.85. But following the event, coach Amanda Iwanicki said she was focused on an upcoming School oard meeting. That meeting, scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 13, determines if the district will fund the team, which has been operating as a club program despite a varsity schedule.

“We’re going to have the entire team there, and everybody can speak for five minutes,” said Iwanicki. “It’s easy to say ‘No’ to one person, but when you have 16 girls, plus two coaches … they might still say ‘No,’ but it’s a lot harder to say ‘No’ to that.

And Pelham’s 16-girl roster, added Iwanicki, was one of the biggest at the state meet, proving the interest is there.

“Nashua North is three times bigger than Pelham High, and yet I have a bigger team,” she said. “We’ve got the program, the girls are working hard, and people are showing interest in it.”

Iwanicki and her assistant, Marianne Wilson, currently work for free despite vast competitve and coaching experience. Both are providing the team with gym time at no charge to the school.

While Pelham looked toward the future, Salem celebrated the present in Davis Gymnasium. Despite an injury to junior standout Leeann Vadala, the Blue Devils’ 135.9 points were more than enough to beat second- place Central, which finished with a score of 131.95.

Vadala, in the opening seconds of her floor routine, fell to the ground, holding her knee and clearly in pain. Despite her pleas, she was not allowed to return to finish the event.

“The decision was taken out of our hands, which was probably a good thing because you don’t want an emotional decision. She would have jumped right back out there, and if there is some kind of an injury in there that could have come back at the end of the routine, we could have lost her for regionals,” said LaVallo. “She could have missed out on the end of her USGA meets or something far worse. I just told her that the plaque would have meant nothing if we had lost her.”

Vadala, even without her floor score, finished 40th overall. She took second on bars with a 9.3, seventh on beam with a 9.05, and 23rd on vault, where she may have first injured her knee, with an 8.0.

“If that happened my senior year, I would have been over the edge,” said Vadala. “That was definitely the hardest part of the whole meet – me not being able to go back out there. But my team recovered, so now we’re just looking forward to New Englands.”

Teammate Jolena Diefendorf finished eighth in the all-around with a 34.575. She tied for fifth on floor with a 9.05, came in seventh on bars with an 8.65, was 10th on beam with an 8.8 and tied for 17th on vault with an 8.175.

Salem notes

Shireen Kirata took fourth on floor with a 9.0 and tied for 19th on beam with an 8.05 and 20th on bars with a 7.4.

Jessica Maffeo was ninth on vault after an 8.575, ninth on bars with an 8.15 and ninth on floor with an 8.8.

Taylor Buatti earned a 12- place 8.675 on floor, a 16th-place 8.225 on beam and tied for 25th on bars with a 6.45.

On vault, Jordan Buatti was 18th on vault with an 8.1, Lizzy Lavigne tied for 29th with a 7.8, and Brittany Fetzner tied for 32nd with a 7.65.

Jordan Buatti also finished 14th on floor with an 8.6 and 33rd on beam with a 7.35.

Geena Terino was 24th on bars with a 7.15, and Steph Schaeter tied for 26th on beam with a 7.7.

“It just shows the depth we have this year, where we have six girls who could all go allarounds,” LaVallo said. “One of the girls who could have scored 9 on beam couldn’t go up because you can only have two all-arounds. So next year we’re still going to have Leeann on allaround, plus Jess Maffeo probably.”

If this year’s scores are any indication, next season, she said, returnees such as Vadala, Maffeo and Kirata will again have the Blue Devils poised for a state title.

“We really didn’t have our best meet this year,” said LaVallo.

Pelham notes

For Pelham, Chelsea I’Anson finished 22nd in the all-around with a 31.8. She came in 18th on vault and bars, with an 8.15 and 7.5, respectively, and earned 22nd on floor with an 8.3 and 23rd on beam with a 7.85.

Ynonne Figurerido and Emily Cover, both competing in their last high school event, gave solid efforts, but more importantly, said Iwanicki, provided constant moral support throughout the season.

Figurerido finished 46th on floor with a 6.5 and 18th on floor with a 6.675.

Cover, earning a 6.4 on beam, tied for 47th with teammate Amber Faucher, who came in 36th on vault with a 7.45 and 39th on bars with a 6.2.

Others competing for Pelham include juniors Shauna Legatos, Seabrina Blais and Vanessa Alicea, sophomores Taylor McCarthy and Kally Riddigner, and freshmen Chelsea Desmaris and Ximorah Ramos.

Legatos scored a 6.3 on floor. Riddinger tallied a 4.9 on bars and 6.325 on floor. McCarthy earned a 7.65 on vault and a 6.0 on bars, and Ramos received a 7.25 on vault.