Number of Participants: 150
Hours Donated: 3
Value of Time Served: $15,656
Event Type: Children & Youth
Activity: Cheerleading
School: Cold Spring Harbor High School
Date: January 20, 2026
Location:
Cold Spring Harbor Jr. Sr. High School
Turkey Lane, Cold Spring Harbor
NY
About:
Since it began in 2015, Nassau’s 10th annual “Cartwheel for a Cure” gymnastics meet continues to grow in both size and impact.
What started as a dual meet to raise awareness for cystic fibrosis has evolved into an invitational featuring all 20 of the county’s gymnastics teams. On Saturday, they joined together in Cold Spring Harbor to raise awareness and funds for both cystic fibrosis and DIPG, a type of pediatric brain cancer.
“I’m just so proud of how far this has come,” Section VIII gymnastics coordinator Kim Rhatigan said. “I think this is an example that once you plant the seed to help people, people will follow suit. People will want to be involved.”
Rhatigan and Cold Spring Harbor coach Teri Kindelmann created the event 11 years ago to support Kindelmann’s two daughters, Charlotte (13) and Matison (15), who have cystic fibrosis. Then, in 2021, the focus shifted to Madison Milio, a Massapequa girl who passed away at 9 years old after a 32-month battle with DIPG.
This year, the meet supported both causes.
“It’s overwhelming,” Kindelmann said. “To see everybody come together, laughing, having fun all in support of these two causes is really special. Both of my daughters are doing excellent health-wise, and it’s because of events like this that we can help them.”
Madison Milio’s mother, Kristen, was a gymnast at Farmingdale and coached at Sewanhaka from 1999-2007. She helped organize the meet and attended it with her family, supporting the gymnasts and helping raise funds.
“This is the first year that [Madison] would have been competing here,” Milio said. “She would have been in eighth grade at Massapequa, so this is a tough one. We learned a lot from Madison and we continue to learn from her. She was sassy, determined and motivated. She had so many of the amazing qualities that all of these gymnasts have.”
In the morning session, Abigail Thaler of Carle Place/Wheatley claimed the all-around title with a score of 35.250. She earned first-place finishes in floor (9.25) and beam (9.2) and a second-place finish on bars (8.5). Syosset won the team crown with a total score of 162.05.
“I really love how we’re competing for a good cause,” Thaler said. “There’s no real pressure here which makes it so fun. It’s great to see everybody in Nassau come together for something really important.”
