Wildcat boys finish perfect county run | Maryland Gazette (HometownGlenBurnie.com)

Every team sets out for perfection at the beginning of the season. Achieving perfection however, is a rare feat, and that's just what the Arundel boys gymnastics team accomplished this year.

Arundel won the boys gymnastics regional championship Thursday at Chesapeake, defeating second-place Old Mill 141-120. Arundel was consistent across the board, taking second through fifth in the individual all around competition. Led by captain Coleman Caldwell, the Arundel squad look poised from the beginning to make sure they didn't walk away without a victory.

"You have no idea how amazing it feels to go undefeated, I am so proud to be captain of this team," said Caldwell.

While the teams scores were never really in doubt, there was a bit of a surprise in the all-around competition. Old Mill's Ben Yocum took the title, finishing with a 39.9 and just edging Coleman's 38.85. Yocum took the rings, the parallel bar and the high bar to solidify his top score.

"I was thinking it would be a 50/50 shot at me taking the overall, but I am very happy I got it," said Yocum. "This was the worst I have ever done on my floor routine, but I did very well in a lot of other areas."

There was some controversy with Yocum's score on the parallel bars. Yocum had a nice routine going, but took a nasty spill toward the end of it, crashing on his back in between the apparatus. After being attended to by medical staff for a few minutes, Yocum got up and continued. Most expected a fairly low score due to the fall. He received a 7.4, a high score for a routine that included a fall, with Arundel's Jordan Hernandez scoring a 7.1 to come in second in the event.

Arundel coach Tom Hamblin and his gymnasts were surprised.

"I'm not sure exactly what happened with the judges on the parallel bars, getting a seven point score with a fall is a little disturbing," said Hamblin. "To see a score that high where you don't complete the routine is disappointing, but judges will be judges and I just focused on calming my boys down who were a little upset."

Caldwell dazzled the crowd with some high flying feats, performing multiple flips on the vault and an energetic floor exercise. Caldwell took both of those events and the pommel horse, to cap an impressive day.

"I am extremely happy with the team's performance, they came in undefeated and left undefeated, they worked very hard for this," said Hamblin.

Team Scores

Arundel 141; Old Mill 120.05; Annapolis 24; Chesapeake 4.55

Individual Scores (All Around)

All Around: 1,Yocum OM, 39.9; 2, Caldwell AR, 38.85; 3, Tayag AR, 35.25; 4, Hernandez AR, 34.1; 5, Porter AR, 32.25; 6, Frolich OM, 30.05

High Bar: 1, Yocum OM, 7.25; 2, Hernandez AR, 5.3; 3, Frolich OM, 4.35

Parallel Bars: 1, Yocum OM, 7.4; 2, Hernandez AR, 7 .1; 3, Caldwell/Tayag AR, 6.5

Vault: 1, Caldwell AR, 8.8; 2, Hernandez AR, 8.15; 3, Tayag AR, 7.85

Floor: 1, Caldwell AR, 8; 2, Tayag AR, 7.3; 3, Hernandez AR, 6.65

Rings: 1, Yocum OM, 6.55; 2, Caldwell AR, 6.1; 3, Frolich OM, 5.65

Horse: 1, Caldwell AR, 5.45; 2, Yocum OM, 5.15; 3, R. Porter AR, 4.25