Sophomore Sierra Vaz captured the NJSIAA state individual championship on the bars at Brick Memorial High School on Saturday posting a winning score of 9.6.
The victory highlighted a standout performance for the sophomore, who also secured a silver medal on the beam and finished fourth in the all-around competition.
Vaz outdistanced runner-up Brianna Lauer of Lenape, who finished with a 9.5. Throughout the championship, Vaz was guided by her mother, Tracie Vaz, and co-coach Kim Cardinoza. According to reporting from NJ.com, Tracie Vaz has allowed Cardinoza to handle most of the hands-on coaching to maintain a professional distance, though the two coaches have maintained a long-standing partnership dating back to their own competitive days at Freehold Township High School.
Cardinoza noted the maturity the sophomore displayed throughout the season leading up to the title win.
“I’m very proud of her,” Cardinoza said. “Gymnastics is one of those sports that requires a little bit of maturity and I saw that from her, from the beginning to the end of the season.”
Vaz’s gold medal performance on the bars followed a strong showing on the beam, where she scored a 9.65. While she placed behind all-around champion Jada Powell of Manchester Township on that apparatus, her coaches described her beam performance as a beautiful, stellar routine. Vaz also competed in the vault, tying for 38th with an 8.9, and the floor, where she scored a 9.4.
“It means a lot, definitely,” Vaz said of her state championship performance on the bars. “I feel like I’ve put a lot of hard work towards it so it just feels great to be up there, No. 1.”
“Basically, before you go, you just take a deep breath,” she said of approaching the bars. “And you tell yourself that you’ve got it. And then after that, it’s really in God’s hands. Everything happens for a reason.”
