Valley’s Giberson sets New England record Gymnast is fourth in all- around at championship

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Valley High School of Bingham junior Mellory Giberson broke a New England meet record on the uneven parallel bars and finished in fourth place in the all-around as Maine high school gymnasts made a return to the New England Championships, which were held at Rhode Island College Saturday.

Giberson scored a 9.75 on the bars to break the old record of 9.6 and she finished with a 36.70 all-around score. She received 9.0 on the balance beam and floor exercise and an 8.95 on the vault.

“I think I could have done better on vault and floor, but I’ve never scored that high (9.75) on anything before,” said Giberson, who competed despite a fever and dizzy spells on Friday. “I just really wanted to go to this. I had a lot of Tylenol and penicillin.”

Other Maine all-around finishers were Noble of South Berwick’s Darcey Lovejoy, who scored a 34.525 in the all-around for 24th-place. Lydia Nest of Kennebunk was 26th with a 34.45 and Waterville’s Stacy Clark scored a 32.55 for a 38th-place finish.

Hampden Academy freshman Sarah Leong, who was also set to compete in the all-around, twisted her ankle in her first event was not able to finish.

Joey Marie Kochanski of Norwich, Conn., and Susanne Chavers of Danvers, Mass., both scored 37.40 to tie for first place in the all-around. Norwich Free Academy of Norwich, Conn., won the team scoring. Maine did not send any teams.