Rookie coach has experienced roster

By Monique Walker  |  January 4, 2009

Stephen Cudworth, understandably, could have been intimidated, at age 23, serving as a varsity head coach for the first time, at the helm of the Bridgewater-Raynham gymnastics program.

But he isn't nervous. A former gymnast, he coached seven of his current B-R gymnasts either as an assistant at the high school or at Spectrum Gymnastics in Brockton.

"I knew the type of personalities I was dealing with and the athletes they were, so it made it a lot easier," he said.

There is plenty for Cudworth to fall back on. He graduated from Carver in 2003, where he was part of the school's gymnastics team. In 1999 and 2000, Cudworth was a state and regional vault champion. In 1999, he added Class 4 state titles in floor and parallel bars. And in college, he was a competitive cheerleader at Bridgewater State.

This season, he is coaching an experienced squad, a roster of 17 gymnasts that includes three freshmen. Among the leading returnees are senior Heather Spring, junior Rachel Livolsi and senior Danielle Haslam.

Spring hurt her knee at midseason last year but she is healthy this year and will compete in the all-around. She is considered one of the team's strongest on the vault and bars.

Livolsi is described as a "technically perfect gymnast" on every event. She also competes in all-around and excels on the bars and beam.

And Haslam is a consistent performer who is coming off shoulder surgery. She also is an all-around competitor, but because of her shoulder will not be able to perform on bars.

The one area that Cudworth wants to see an improvement is on the vault. The key will be to have more difficult start values, Cudworth said.

B-R's first meet will be Thursday against Cranberry League rival Barnstable, the 2008 state champion.

Bentley sophomore Anne Kaduboski (inset) of Dedham is putting together a record-breaking season in the pool. Kaduboski placed second in the 200-yard butterfly at the Northeast-10 Conference Women's Swimming and Diving Championships on Dec. 7. Her performance (2 minutes, 04.12 seconds) meant Kaduboski became the first women's swimmer in Bentley history to record an A-Cut time (below 2:06.99). She also clipped 3.33 seconds off her own school record and automatically qualified for the NCAA Division 2 Championships March 11-14 in Houston.

Kaduboski also won the 100 butterfly at the same meet with a time of 57.62, which also was a Northeast-10 record and a B-cut qualifier for the NCAA championships. She was just shy of the A-cut time of 57.19.

Bentley University will resume its schedule today against Plymouth State University.

The Quincy school system is trying to fill multiple varsity coaching positions at both high schools: girls' varsity tennis at North Quincy, and girls' varsity softball, and boys' and girls' varsity soccer at Quincy High.

Anyone interested can contact athletic director Jim Rendle at 617-376-3348. Letters of interest may be faxed to 617-984-8687 or mailed to Quincy Public Schools, c/o Jim Rendle, Athletic Director, 70 Coddington St., Quincy, MA 02169.

Monique Walker can be reached at mwalker@globe.com.