Not often does a group of athletes come along who define a team, but that's exactly what seniors Katie Frese, Melissa Luster, and Margaret Dubey have done with the Valley Regional gymnastics squad. Valley-which didn't have a team for years prior to these three coming up as freshmen-has since formed a tight-knit group of gymnasts who have taken the Warriors to the Class S State Championship and won the title three of the past four years.

"This is the most talented group I have had at the high school level, winning three championships in a row and missing a fourth in 2008 by only .05 points," said Coach Carl Cavrell.

As freshmen in 2008, Frese, Luster, and Dubey joined the Valley team after years of competing with USA Gymnastics at Shoreline Gymnastics in Old Saybrook and helped the Warriors form their first varsity gymnastics team. Missing first place in the Class S meet by .05 points, this only motivated the group to work harder to achieve the ultimate goal the following season, which they did-again and again and again.

"I think the main reason we did so well the past three years was we came so close our freshman year and we lost by the smallest amount in states," said Luster. "We were so excited to create the first team at Valley and after we were so close to winning, it made us work so much harder to win states. Sophomore year, we weren't overconfident and thought we could pull it off and we kept practicing and knew we could really push through and our goal was to win it all three years.

"I'd love to thank Justin Hall, even though he's not my high school coach, he coaches at Shoreline Gymnastics, and I'd also thank Maureen Pokorny and Carl Cavrell-they've been so supportive and knew we could do it the whole time. They have supported us the whole way through."

This season, Valley finished undefeated again with a 7-0 record and, for the second consecutive season, pushed through the competition despite being plagued by injury.

"These girls overcame numerous injuries and showed up week after week, meet after meet and gave it their best," said Cavrell.

Frese, who took home the State Open title, placed sixth in New Englands, earned the team MVP Award and made First Team All-State this year to end her illustrious career, called her high school experience "probably one of the greatest experiences of my life because no one knew about us."

"Melissa and Margaret have been my friends for so long and getting three titles was so great," Frese added. "Winning at the State Open was one of my goals and I always looked up to people who won it. I've been working really hard for that and it's something I really wanted to win."

Along with Frese, Luster (First Team All-State), and Dubey (Second Team All-State) were the anchors to a team that also included Maggie Calamari (Most Improved), Annie Kingston, and Jenna Armenia.

"The captains brought stability, maturity, and leadership to the team, each and every day," said Cavrell. "They all performed very well and scored consistently high all year to get us the number one seed in the Class S meet."

With the "core three" graduating, experience is on the team's side in Kingston, Calamari, and Armenia, but the team will be in rebuilding mode for the 2011-'12 season.

"It meant the world to me to start as being such a small team to having the reputation of not being a recreational gymnast and that we could make a difference," said Dubey. "The whole experience has been great and it's taught me a lot about myself and teammates and has taught me great sportsmanship. It's been great for mental toughness."