Crasas are thriving at Ward Melville

Ward Melville's Cydney Crasa and her mother, Caryl Crasa, have achieved quite a lot when it comes to gymnastics. Cydney, now an eighth-grader, finished second overall at the state championships last March, and holds the Suffolk record in vaulting. Caryl is in her 22nd season as WM's coach, with nearly 200 career victories and four county titles to her credit.

Now, the two are thriving together in Cydney's second season on the team, with Ward Melville sitting atop the League I standings as the only undefeated squad left in the county. Along with last year's League II title, Caryl and Cydney are off to a good start since teaming up at the varsity level, but their history in the gym goes back much further.

Caryl and her two sisters, Mary and Barbara Tiess, won three county championships together as teammates at Centereach from 1980-1982, and went on to play at the Division I and II levels in college. They then opened their own gym, Exper-Tiess, in 1988, and have coached countless young gymnasts including Cydney and her teammates at Ward Melville.

"My sisters and I have been [Cydney's] coach since she was born," Caryl said. "She just took to it. She could have easily said she didn't want to do gymnastics but she was born into it."

Cydney has the best scores on her team in every event this season. She said she loves the thrill of competing and spending time with her teammates, and admitted that it wasn't so bad having her mom as the coach.

"It's actually really fun because I can talk to her about anything," Cydney said. "She's the same at home too, always talking about gymnastics."

Caryl, though, had high praise for the other 26 members of her squad, noting that juniors Alison LaRocca and Eugenia Zhukovsky have shown great leadership on a team that has proved it understands the values of sportsmanship and camaraderie.

"We have great team chemistry and we pick each other up. If one kid falls the next one steps up and does great because we know every point counts and we need to be there for each other," Caryl said. "Even my ninth-graders, who know they won't be in the lineup, they come to the gym every day and work hard and it shows me that we're going to get better and better even in the next few years."