This week’s student-athlete of the week is Lauren Picanzi, a Junior on the OA gymnastics team. She has consistently been one of the top performers all year for the team, but last week had an amazing competition in the win over Sharon, scoring a 9.1 on the vault. She described this score as “my favorite and proudest moment of the season so far. I decided to throw a new vault that I had never done before. It was thrilling, not only for me, but the entire team. We were all hyped up and the second I landed on the vault everyone was overjoyed. Even the judge wasn’t expecting it.”
The Tigers, led by captain Selena Decosta have an impressive record so far of 5-1. Lauren said “I am very satisfied with our record and proud to say we have had a wonderful season so far. We have improved so much since our first practices and had so many girls step up to the plate and help the team out. We are doing well under pressure and hope to qualify to sectionals again this year, which would be the third year in a row.”
Although only a Junior, there are very few people at any meet that can outperform Lauren in anything. She is very versatile as she competes in all events (vault, bars, beam, and floor) and has qualified for “all around individuals” since freshman year, and hopes to continue that streak this year.
All of her hard work seems to be paying off this season, and her teammates have taken note. Senior Gianna Martucci told me “Lauren is always working hard in the gym and that really shows when she excels in practice and in every meet.” However, this work ethic is nothing new for the gymnast, who is in her 14th year, and 11th competitively.
All great athletes tend to have one thing in common…they love the big moment. Unsurprisingly, Lauren seems to have this trait too, saying “I am excited to go up against North Attleboro at Hocks. We already competed against them once and had a very close meet but ended up losing. I am excited to see how much we have improved and hopefully beat them this time.” I can guarantee you she will come up big in the important competitions in the near future.
Not only is Lauren a great gymnast. She also plays club soccer for NEFC and hopes to continue her education into college. Although unsure of what she wants to major in, she knows two things for sure. She would like to stay in New England and continue her gymnastics career in college.
Lauren definitely has a promising future at OA and in college. She is just getting started.