In her first year as head coach, Kellie Damelio led the Roxbury gymnastics team to the NJSIAA North Jersey, Section 1 title.
What makes this more impressive is that it is only Roxbury’s second year with a gymnastics program.
“I am truly honored,” Damelio said. “I knew coming in we had a strong team, but most importantly, the girls knew their competition and they knew Mount Olive was going to be their most difficult team in our division to go against. I’m so proud of what these girls were able to accomplish and I couldn’t be prouder to be a part of this program.”
Roxbury’s rapid rise as a program also brought Damelio State Coach of the Year honors in gymnastics by NJ.com for 2019.
Damelio was a gymnast herself in high school at West Millford, where she also ran winter and spring track. She began coaching as an assistant there under Lauren Rescigno, who remains in charge of the program.
She stopped coaching to accept a job in the Roxbury school district 13 years ago, but was not involved during the team’s inaugural season.
When Tara Liska, who started the program, left to take a job in South Jersey, an email was sent out to the athletic directors to see if there was anyone with coaching experience. West Milford’s AD referred Damelio, who agreed to coach the team in August.
Going into the sectional final, Roxbury was seeded third, behind Mount Olive and Pascack Hills. After some struggles on beam, Damelio didn’t think her team was going to win, until she heard from the Mount Olive coach after the meet.
“At the end of the meet, the Mount Olive coach, who I love, came up to me and said we beat them by a little bit and I thought she meant we beat them for second place,” Damelio said. “She said 'No, you beat us for first place,’ and I didn’t believe her at first. The girls didn’t know at that point and when they announced it, it was like holy cow.”
Roxbury indeed won by the slightest of margins, edging Mount Olive, 105.95-105.925.
Roxbury was led that day by senior Tiffany Zieba, who won the all-around, vault, bars and floor. She also finished fourth in states on vault.
“She is a phenomenal athlete," Damelio said. "She’s just built that way. She runs track too and has a chance to set the pole-vaulting record here. She recently committed to Quinnipiac and I can’t wait to see what she does in college.”
Roxbury placed 10th out of the 10 teams to qualify for the team championships, but just to be there was quite an accomplishment for a program in just its second year.
“It was really an honor for us to get there as a team and I expect the girls who are coming back will have that experience again,” Damelio said. “Fortunately, we have a lot of elite gymnasts on our team. These girls go to club after our practice and have really committed their life to the sport. This program has a bright future.”
Damelio also deflects a lot of the credit to her assistant coach Caitlin Gluck, who is also a special education teacher at Roxbury.
“I don’t know how I would’ve done it without her,” Damelio said. “She’s super organized and made it a point to make sure the girls had snacks at every competition and every practice because these are long days. Having someone else there to help is essential because there is so much going on at all times.”
After not coaching for 13 years and not being involved with the team last year, Damelio has certainly left her mark in her first year. She is thankful for the memories this team provided her with and is excited for more.
“I think having the high school team is great because there’s so much talent here that wasn’t being promoted,” Damelio said. “These girls would just go to their club meets, and maybe colleges don’t see them or they don’t get there name out there. I think that was part of it.
"I know Tiffany competed by herself for a long time, and when you have a whole team supporting you, it brings that family dynamic. We really have become a family the last three months.
“It’s been such a great season and it makes me say wow when I think back on it.”