Trumbull High School’s gymnastics team was fantastic, yet again, as this year’s Eagles legitimized their program as having a legit dynasty in these mid-2020s by having a Triple Crown year for the third consecutive year.
Trumbull three-peated in winning the FCIAC championship meet and another pair of state championship meets, and several more gymnasts from the conference performed well to highlight a successful gymnastics season for the FCIAC.
The Eagles put the wraps on their great season by finishing runner-up to champion Newton North High School (Mass.) for the second straight year at the 2026 New England Gymnastics Championship.
Newton North scored 149.175 points, and Trumbull scored a season-high 147.025, including 37.2 for the highest team points score of the meet on the vault.
Coach Cathy McMahon’s Eagles consistently improved on their season-high team scores in all four of their postseason championship meets.
They began their postseason collection of championships by winning the 2026 FCIAC Gymnastics Championship with 142.55 points, which was 10.9 points more than runner-up Staples (129.85).
Darien placed third with 129.85 points and was followed by Fairfield Ludlowe (129.75), Norwalk (128.5), Wilton )128.35) and St. Joseph (122.65).
Trumbull junior Tessa Chamberlin was the Ro Carlucci Award recipient as FCIAC all-around champion.
The award honors the memory and legacy of the longtime Westhill High School coach who was also the FCIAC Gymnastics Championship meet director hosted by Westhill for so many years and she was later a judge at many gymnastics meets throughout the Northeast.
Chamberlin won her FCIAC all-around title by scoring 37.15 points, which was an improvement of 1.3 points from her 35.85 score last year when Chamberlin and her teammate, Mikayla Kouble, tied for third place.
Fairfield Ludlowe junior Sarah Smeraglino was the all-around runner-up with 35.9 points as she also improved from last year when she scored 1.4 points more this year than her 34.5 last year when she placed eighth.
This year Chamberlin won two of the four events and placed second in the other two events won by Smeraglino.
Chamberlin won the balance beam with a score of 9.1 and had a great score of 9.5 to win the floor exercise and she was runner-up on the vault (9.4) and uneven bars (9.15).
Smeraglino also achieved that great score of 9.5 when she won the vault. She also won the uneven bars with a 9.3, placed third on the floor exercise (9.1) and tied for eighth on the balance beam.
Mackenzie Morehouse of Ridgefield placed third in the all-around with a 35.65 and Darien’s Courtney Timmeny was just 0.15 of a point behind her in fourth place with a 35.5.
Morehouse was runner-up on both the balance beam (9.0) and floor exercise (9.25) and she placed third on the uneven bars (9.1).
There were four Trumbull Eagles among the top seven all-arounders at the FCIAC championship meet as Chamberlin’s teammates Ava Buswell (35.15), Jayla Wright (35.05) and Sara Renda (34.05) placed fifth through seventh.
Hayden Holm (33.7) of St. Joseph, Ridgefield’s Julia Hobert (33.45), and Hannah Bitsky (33.2) of Staples were the other gymnasts who finished in the top 10 in the all-around at the FCIAC Gymnastics Championship on the Saturday of Feb. 7 at Gymnastics & Cheer Academy.
Two weeks later Trumbull’s Eagles won the 2026 Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference Class L Gymnastics Championship at Jonathan Law High School with their score of 143.9 points to win by a comfortable margin of 6.4 points over runner-up Southington (138.1).
Norwich Free Academy placed third with 137.975 points and was followed by FCIAC teams Fairfield Ludlowe (128.275), Staples (126.1), Norwalk (124.25), and Darien (123.575) finishing fourth through seventh, respectively.
Team scores were kept at that Class L state championship and there were no official all-around results.
For Trumbull: Chamberlin had team-high scores of 9.35 on both the floor exercise and 9.225 on the balance beam, Renda had a 9.35 for the highest score on the vault and a 9.25 on the floor exercise, Wright scored 9.225 on the vault and 9.2 on the floor exercise, and Kayla Algeri had the highest team score of 9.275 on the uneven bars to lead Trumbull to the championship.
Smeraglino had a 9.35 on the floor exercise and a 9.15 on the vault to lead Fairfield Ludlowe.
Trumbull’s Eagles scored 1.35 points more at the Class L state championship meet than their winning score at the FCIAC Championship and one week later they improved again when they scored 144.225 points to win the CIAC State Open Gymnastics Championship on Feb. 28 at New Milford High School.
The Eagles won the State Open by 1.7 points over the Class M state champion Ledyard/Waterford/St. Bernard cooperative team which was led by Alyssa McLeod (37.575) and Capri Sferrazza (27.025) placing 1-2 in the all-around.
Chamberlin placed third in the all-around with her score of 36.5 and Renda placed ninth with a 35.075 to lead Trumbull to the team title.
Ludlowe’s Smeraglino had the second highest score among FCIAC gymnasts when she finished eighth with a 35.225.
Wright placed 14th (34.775) and Buswell tied for 15th place (34.35) to provide the vital solid depth and secure that third consecutive Triple Crown season for Trumbull.
Southington placed third with 136.975 points and Daniel Hand was fourth with 135.35.
Trumbull had the highest combined team score in three events – the vault (36.25), balance beam (37.0) and floor exercise (35.925), and the second highest score in the uneven bars (35.05).
Trumbull was led by Chamberlin tying for first place on the balance beam (9.5) and placing second on the floor exercise (9.35), and fourth-place finishes from Kayla Algeri on the uneven bars (9.2) and Renda on the vault (9.225).
The top 10 gymnasts in the all-around and the leading scorers in all four events at the FCIAC Gymnastics Championship are listed below:
2026 FCIAC Gymnastics Championships
All-Around: 1. Tessa Chamberlin, Trumbull, 37.15; 2. Sarah Smeraglino, Fairfield Ludlowe, 35.9; 3. Mackenzie Morehouse, Ridgefield, 35.65; 4. Courtney Timmeny, Darien, 35.5; 5. Ava Buswell, Trumbull, 35.15; 6. Jayla Wright, Trumbull, 35.05; 7. Sara Renda, Trumbull, 35.05; 8. Hayden Holm St. Joseph’s, 33.7; 9. Julia Hobert, Ridgefield, 33.45; 10. Hannah Bitsky, Staples, 33.2.
Vault: 1. Smeraglino, Ludlowe, 9.5; Chamberlin, Trumbull, 9.4; 3. Renda, Trumbull, 9.25; 4. Timmeny, Darien 9.2; 5. Wright, Trumbull, 9.15; 6. Buswell, Trumbull, 8.95.
Uneven Bars: 1. Smeraglino, Ludlowe, 9.3; 2. Chamberlin, Trumbull, 9.15; 3. Morehouse, Ridgefield, 9.1; 4. Timmeny 8.9; 5. Carly Murphy, Trumbull, 8.7; 6. Renda, Trumbull, 8.6.
Balance Beam: 1. Chamberlin, Trumbull, 9.1; 2. Morehouse, Ridgefield, 9.3; Maya Sebastian, Norwalk, 8.7; 4. (Tie) Buswell, Trumbull & Hobert, Ridgefield, 8.6; 5. (Tie) Timmeny, Darien, Wright, Trumbull & Holm, St. Joseph, 8.5; 6. (Tie), Renda, Trumbull & Allison Massaua, Wilton, 8.2.
Floor Exercise: 1. Chamberlin, Trumbull, 9.4; 2. Morehouse, Ridgefield, 9.25; 3. Smeraglino, Ludlowe, 9.1; 4. Buswell, Trumbull 9.05; 5. Wright, Trumbull, 9.0; 6. Timmeny, Darien, 8.9.