Senior night is always an emotional moment for high school sports teams. Ward Melville Girls Varsity Gymnastics had their senior night on Wednesday, October 23. Ophelia Rosenthal-Vincenti is the team’s only senior and a co-captain, and I had the pleasure of speaking with her at the meet.
Isabel De Bei: How long have you been on the team?
Ophelia Rosenthal-Vincenti: I’ve been part of the varsity team since 9th grade, so I have lots of memories from my experience on this team.
IDB: Do you have any family connections to gymnastics? Did any of your siblings do it?
ORV: I started club gymnastics in kindergarten but quit in 4th grade, where I was at the time a level 8. Then, in 7th grade, COVID hit, so I totally missed out on the gymnastics season. I ended up competing on the junior high school team the following year. I did Apex club gymnastics with my older sister Johnna. I also competed alongside her for 2 years on the school varsity team. During this season, I competed with my younger sibling Anja.
IDB: What do you want to do in the future? Anything connected to gymnastics?
ORV: I’m really unsure about my future. The only thing I’m sure about is that I want to travel a lot. I will maybe do club gymnastics in whatever college I end up in but, overall, I’m still unsure.
IDB: Do you do any other sports?
ORV: I play travel soccer year-round. In the winter school sport season, I compete for the Varsity Wrestling team, and during the spring school sport season, I am on the Varsity Flag Football team.
IDB: Do you have anything you would like to say to the team and to the school about gymnastics?
ORV: I would like to thank this year’s team for being so hard working and dedicated. This season was so amazing and I’m so glad we were able to do what we did together. We achieved great results as a team and I hope you guys do even better in the future. These girls are really some of the nicest people I’ve met. This group truly made my last year on the team very fun and special. I’ll miss you all very much.
IDB: Thank you so much for everything. We wish you all the best from Kaleidoscope!
ORV: Thank you so much for everything! Love ya!
