GYMNASTICS

Wolf Pac gymnasts poised to continue storied tradition

Pac starts season with win

The Mahopac High School varsity gymnastics team

Tabby Pearson Marshall

Lexie Castrataro

Tabby Pearson Marshall

Kayla Contreras

Tabby Pearson Marshall

Sophia Lombardi

Tabby Pearson Marshall

Riley Hughes

Tabby Pearson Marshall

Anna Carinci

Tabby Pearson Marshall

Posted Thursday, December 11, 2025 2:41 pm

Mahopac tops Byram Hills

The Wolf Pac opened its season on Monday (Dec. 8) against Byram Hills at Eclipse Gymnastics in Mahopac, coming away with a 162.95-158.900 team win.

"Everyone contributed tonight; a total team effort," coach Vin Collins said. "It was a nice start to the season.

Mahopac delivered its best work on beam and floor, helping the Pac post several of the meet’s top individual scores.

On vault, Mahopac opened strong behind Lexie Castrataro, who tied Byram Hills’ Dani Levine for first with a 9.10. The Pac added steady support from Riley Hughes (8.15), Anna Carinci (8.10) and Kayla Contreras (8.05), keeping Mahopac close despite Byram placing two in the top three.

On bars, Byram controlled most of the podium, but Mahopac stayed in range. Carinci earned third with an 8.10, followed by Castrataro at 7.70 and Lara Dimase at 6.90. While not a top-scoring event for the Pac, the lineup prevented a major swing in momentum.

Beam proved to be Mahopac’s strongest rotation. Carinci won the event with a 9.00, and the Pac stacked the top five with Contreras (8.55) and Hughes (8.50). Castrataro and Dimase added matching 8.40s, giving Mahopac the depth advantage and the highest beam total of the meet.

On floor, Mahopac closed with another standout performance. Castrataro led all gymnasts with a 9.30, and Carinci followed in third with a 9.20. Hughes contributed an 8.65 as Mahopac again topped the event scoring.

In the all-around, Byram Hills’ Levine won with a 34.95, but Mahopac claimed the next two spots: Castrataro finished second with a 34.50, and Carinci took third with a 34.40. The Pac placed four more athletes inside the top 10 — Hughes was sixth (31.95), Dimase eighth (30.90), Contreras ninth (30.40) and Sophia Lombardi tenth (27.20) — underscoring Mahopac’s lineup depth across all four even.

"Lexie, Anna and Riley were all solid in all four events," Collins said. "We had fine efforts from Lara and Ashley on the balance beam, as well as Kayla on floor and Sophia on even bars."

By Ray Gallagher

Contributing Writer

With a rich tradition as its guiding light, Mahopac enters the 2025-26 gymnastics campaign under legendary coach Vin Collins committed to meet the lofty goals that have become a tradition: qualify for the NYS Scholar Athlete Team Award; qualify for the divisional sectional tournaments as a team while qualifying as many individual gymnasts as possible; and qualify a representative number of gymnasts for the New York State Public High School Athletic Association tournament.

“We are in a very competitive league,” said coach Collins, who guided the Wolf Pac to its last sectional championship in 2021 before taking third at sectionals last season with an 8-2 record and a divisional championship. The Wolf Pac also repeated as sectional champions in 2017 behind the elegant performances of high school All-American Callie Johanson, an all-time great at Mahopac.

“Like every year," Collins added, "we are looking to improve each day at practice and competition and each of our gymnasts will compete at their best.”

Collins is excited to see what he can get from his top returnees, including high school All-American Lexie Castrataro. The senior and all-around challenger qualified for the state tournament last year on vault and could be in line at the 2026 sectional podium where all Section 1 challengers could be chasing Lakeland junior Olivia Marricco, the two-time defending all-around champion.

Collins also has high hopes for junior Anna Carinci, another 2025 state qualifier (beam), high school All-American and all-around competitor, and senior Riley Hughes, a third high school All-American and all-around competitor.

Key newcomers include juniors Ashley Calciano and Ashley Golden (both all-around competitors), who are hoping to help fill the shoes of 2025 graduate Kelsie Thimm.

Operating out of League A-Gold, the Wolf Pac will face Clarkstown, Somers, Tappan Zee and reigning Section 1 champions Lakeland/Panas.

The Wolf Pac kicked off its season on Monday evening (after this story went to press; find a report at MahopacNews.com). The regular season starts the team's road to the divisional competition, slated for Feb. 2 at Eclipse Gymnastics in Mahopac at 6 p.m., and sectionals, which follow on Feb. 5 at 10 a.m.