East Lyme — Freshman Katie Haynes spent the last year and a half on the sidelines watching and cheering on her teammates, having decided to take a break from from gymnastics.

Before this season, she saw the opportunity to have a fresh start in the sport with the East Lyme High School cooperative team. She jumped at the opportunity and has fought her way back.

Like Haynes’ path, East Lyme’s gymnastics team has come back strong after missing the Eastern Connecticut Conference meet last year due to lack of numbers. East Lyme, currently in a co-op with Waterford and St. Bernard, will compete at the ECC meet at noon Sunday at Thames Valley Gymnastics in North Franklin.

Haynes mentioned that building back the muscle for gymnastics and also getting back in the routine was a challenge. The muscle memory for her was still there, but getting back into shape for the season was a struggle.

According to Haynes, this team is close.

“Half the girls here grew up together. So I feel like it's more of a family than a team. The bonds that we have with each other helps us engage in the sport. I feel like the relationships with everybody here helps gymnastics (become) a safer and just enjoyable place,” Haynes said.

East Lyme coach Kim Detuzzi said that this team will not be a co-op after this season, instead standing on its own. The Vikings will have enough gymnasts to be their own team next year. Ledyard, St. Bernard and Waterford will become a co-op next season, the coach said.

The East Lyme co-op team is on the rise with a record of 5-1. The Vikings currently have an average score of 134.770 per meet, ranking them fifth in the state.

They have multiple gymnasts ranked in the state in all-around average score with Capri Sferrazza (No. 16, 34.95), Olivia Gionet (No. 30, 33.6), Taylor Filosi (No. 32, 33.4625) and Sylvi Otter (No. 41, 32.9825).

High school gymnasts compete in four events: vault, uneven bars, balance beam and floor exercise. The maximum score a gymnast can earn for each event is a 10.0 with 40.0 being the total all-around score per meet.

Detuzzi, owner of ABC Shoreline Gymnastics in East Lyme, has been coaching local high school gymnastics teams for 15 years.

“I (coach) because I myself was a high school gymnast and liked the aspect of being able to do gymnastics with people that were your own age,” Detuzzi said. “High school gymnastics and becoming a team and being able to be teammates was so wonderful (and) a great part of my life.”

Detuzzi started competing at 8 and coaching at 12 to pay for her own gymnastics training.

“That was my life, I enjoyed it, (gymnastics) was something I had a huge drive for when I was younger,” she said.

East Lyme freshman Sylvi Otter, who is one of the five East Lyme girls on the team, said she started early at age 5. She currently is competing on the co-op team along with competing in club gymnastics within the USA Gymnastics (USAG) organization. Her entire life, ABC Shoreline Gymnastics has served as her second home.

“This year, I have been doing USAG Gymnastics and (co-op). It’s hard to keep the balance sometimes with the new routines for high school,” Otter said.

Otter loves competing with her high school team.

“We get to work on all the events together. We also help each other, give each other corrections, and (sort of act) like a coaching role for each other,” Otter said.

Otter also mentioned that compared to USAG, the high school season has less pressure. She said that's why she decided to join.

“(High school gymnastics) just sounded really fun and a more low-stress environment and just a fun way for us to start competing against other teams,” Otter said.

Haynes also started gymnastics at a young age.

“I remember my mom telling me she put me in the classes because I would just climb everywhere and I had too much energy,” Haynes said.

“It's a sport that honestly helps you with life in general. (It just) shows a lot of techniques and it strengthens your body and (it’s) just such a good skill to have. High school gymnastics is just so fun.”

Occasionally, The Day will publish sports stories by local high school journalists. Alex Salerno, a senior at East Lyme High School, is the digital Editor-in-Chief for the Viking Saga, where he has been a writer for three years on a variety of topics, from opinion pieces to food reviews. He is a member of the Vikings’ varsity basketball and baseball teams.

ECC Gymnastics Championship

When: Sunday, noon

Where: Thames Valley Gymnastics

Defending champion: Woodstock Academy

Analysis: Woodstock Academy won its 13th straight ECC title a year ago and went on to finish third in Class M and fourth in the State Open. This season, however, it is Killingly which is unbeaten during the regular season and ranked third overall in the state with a scoring average of 137.44. The East Lyme/Waterford/St. Bernard cooperative team is fifth in the state with an average of 134.77. Individually, NFA sophomore Trinity Ambruso is ranked second in the state with an average score of 36.875, Killingly’s Ella Pereira is fifth at 36.575 and Plainfield’s Brenna Johnson is eighth with an average of 35.975. Ambruso won the uneven bars at last year’s league meet (9.5), took the balance beam (9.6) and uneven bars (9.35) at the State Open meet and earned the New England championship on the beam (9.625) to be named The Day’s 2023 All-Area Gymnast of the Year.

— Vickie Fulkerson