Boys’ gymnastics defeated Lowell 143.8-118.8 in the SOA Tuesday, Jan. 14.

The team won the meet with help from new members. The new additions allowed Newton to fill gaps in their roster. 

“They started learning gymnastics about a week ago and have already put together elementary routines, which is impressive,” senior Jake Forbes, a captain along with senior Matthew Hassan said. “If it wasn’t for them, this match would definitely have resulted in a loss.”

The team started strong on the floor, jumping out to an early ten-point lead. North sophomore Matthew Hassan lead the team, scoring a 9.4. Forbes, despite battling injuries, still chose to compete on the floor in order to fill in for a missing athlete.

“It was my decision,” said Forbes. “It wasn’t my best performance but I did my job.”

According to head coach Bill Martin, Forbes stepped up in a major way and demonstrated why he is the captain of the team.

The team carried the momentum into the pommel horse behind South junior Jonah Henderson’s score of 7.3. After two events, Newton led 53.7-38.9.

Despite the new additions, Newton was still low on players, which opened the door for Lowell in the parallel and horizontal bars. Newton only had three people who competed in each event instead of the usual four. As a result, the team was forced to take two zeros. However, strong performances from Hassan, Henderson, North junior Isaac Tang, and South sophomore Adrian Michael held off Lowell, keeping Newton’s sizable lead intact. 

In the last two events, despite many new members competing for the first time, Newton expanded their lead to nearly 30 points. 

According to Martin, the number of times the team had to take a score of zero decreased from five to two due to new members. The additional points put the team in a position to win. He added that Forbes’ leadership allowed the new team to come together as one.

Martin said that going forward, the team needs to “get stronger and get the new kids involved in what it takes to be a gymnast and how to perform.”