Poplaski looks to end career on a high note
Township gymnastics star aiming to gain all-around crown
BY WAYNE WITKOWSKI Staff Writer
Lindsay Poplaski is ready to cap her high school gymnastics career at Brick Township with the one thing that still is in front of her - the all around championship.

"I'm excited. I can't wait," said an enthused Poplaski who makes her fourth trip to the NJSIAA finals in the all around that takes place at Hunterdon Central in Flemington starting at 3 p.m. Rutgers, the usual host for the state finals, was unavailable because of refurbishing of its gym.

"I feel lucky to have gone every year," Poplaski said. "A lot of girls try very hard to make it in one event and I've made it in the all around (the composite four events - vault, uneven bars, balance beam and floor exercise). You meet with girls from around the state and see people you haven't seen all year."

Poplaski was tied for second in the all around a year ago and set a state record in the beam while winning it for a second straight year. But she doesn't mind being targeted as the person to beat in that event.

"To me, it's pretty cool for people to talk about me but it does mean a certain amount of pressure to do it again," said Poplaski. "I can deal with the pressure. It makes me more determined to do well, especially because I'm a senior and I want to finish well. It makes me more motivated."

And Poplaski said her right ankle that she injured on a dismount off the beam at a practice a few weeks ago that kept her out of the Shore Conference championships two weekends ago is better.

"It feels a lot better. I won't have to tape it," said Poplaski.

That certainly proved a distraction and something of a hindrance when Poplaski competed in the NJSIAA Group IV South sectionals at Southern Regional on Saturday where she finished third allaround but fell off the beam for only the third time this season on her back tuck move and settled for seventh place.

"Coming into the meet, I was nervous about how the ankle would hold up and was pretty nervous mostly on the floor exercise because of the ankle," said Poplaski. And her concerns were realized when she twice stepped out of bounds but still finished in fourth place with a score of 9.475.

"I'm not perfect. I do have flaws but I put it behind me," said Poplaski. Certainly she would've been able to compete for another day either by the third place finish all-around - the top five advance to the state finals - or her 37.125 score was well above the 36-point cutoff. Although she was eighth in the uneven bars at 9.15, her 9.55 score in the vault was good for third place and pushed her high up in the all around standings. "I think I had a pretty good vault and I'm proud of that," said Poplaski.

"Overall, I think I had a pretty decent performance," said Poplaski of the sectionals. "I had some mistakes, but they're little things I can fix."

And Poplaski did not seem overly concerned that she has fallen off the beam all three times in the closing weeks of the season.

After all, a year ago, Poplaski had a subpar performance in a freezing cold Southern Regional gymnasium and even fell off the beam, only to notch a state record score the following week. She had won the beam the week before that in the Shore Conference championships.

But Poplaski, leaning toward a college career at Towson State, is looking to join the elite few who can say they were the best all around gymnasts in the state, which another former Brick Township gymnast - Kim O'Keefe - also did in 1989.