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Rogers/East Providence High School gymnastics co-operative begins its third season this winter with its coaches swapping roles, former assistant Vickie Lombardi taking over the top spot and previous head coach Casey Rapp now the aide of the Vikings/Townies outfit.

EPHS junior Carter Bessette is the top returning performer to the squad. She was the lone member of the co-op to qualify to compete at the 2023 Rhode Island Interscholastic League Gymnastics State Championship Meet. Bessette vied on the floor exercise as part of the Midge Palmer Individual Championship, scoring an 8.15. South Kingstown freshman Savannah Wilson won the event with a 9.4.

Cranston West senior Brooke Anderson won the Palmer solo championship with an all-around score of 37.375 off a 9.6 on vault, 9.55 on bars, 9.075 on beam and a 9.15 on floor. LaSalle won the Division I state team title while the Prout/Exeter-West Greenwich co-op captured the D-II trophy, the subgroup in which Rogers/EP is included.

Bessette shares the team captain position for the '23-24 season with her Rogers counterpart Lily McKenna. On the heels of last winter's final results, Bessette opened this season in fine form on the floor, winning the event in the D-II portion of the Injury Fund meet held Sunday, Dec. 17, at the Newport YMCA.

"We’re really excited about this year’s team," Lombardi said. "Many of our East Providence athletes are new this year, including both upperclassmen and freshmen. Based on what we’ve seen so far, all of the kids are hardworking and dedicated to improving their skills and routines for this season...Based on Carter’s performance I expect that she may compete in varsity states again this year if all goes well for floor at least and we’re hoping that she may qualify on other events."

Sophomore Jade Taswell is the other EPHS returnee with juniors Chloe Santos and Avery Bastanzi along with freshman Emma McKenzie joining the squad this winter. The other Rogers performers include Anna Grayko, Catalina Schroder and Kailey Hebrock. The team competes out of the Newport YMCA.

"Jade has shown a remarkable growth in her skill and execution from last season to this season. She competed vault at injury fund with a new skill that she spent the offseason working towards. Chloe stuck her beam routine at Injury Fund this weekend and showed great poise and grace in her first ever competition," Lombardi added.

The Rogers/EPHS co-op gets its 2023-24 season going in earnest after the new year when the team competes with West Warwick, Chariho and Prout/Exeter-West Greenwich co-op Saturday, Jan. 6, at Dream Big Gymnastics in Cranston at 3 p.m.