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Web Release                                                                                                        October 22, 2005

JACKSONVILLE GYMNASTICS TEAM HOLDS MOCK MEET

IN PREPARATION FOR 2005 - 2006 COMPETITIVE MEET SEASON

Jacksonville Gymnastics USAG Junior Olympic Team held it’s yearly Mock Meet Saturday for competing Level Three through Level Eight team members, who ranged in age from five to sixteen. The meet, judged by USAG State judges, began at 9:30 and ended about 4:00. The meet helped the gymnasts, parents and coaches know weaknesses and strengths of each gymnast as they prepare for the 2005 – 2006 meet season that will begin in November.

A reminder, in women’s gymnastics, the gymnasts compete at team levels and levels are further broken down according to ages. Thus the gymnast is competing against other gymnasts of her own age and level. The gymnasts compete four events: vault, uneven bars, beam and floor exercise. Scores are given to each gymnast for each event with the highest score being a 10.00. The gymnast’s four scores are totaled for her all-around score and awards are then awarded to each gymnast by age. The top three scores (or five, depending on the meet) for each of the four events are totaled and then those four event totals are added together to get the team score. In this way, each and every gymnast may contribute to the team score. Levels three, four, five and six compete compulsory routines for each event – and each routine is the same as choreographed and set forth by the National USAG officials and the floor exercise is performed to the music designated for each level. All compulsory routines and music are new this year, as are the requirements for each level, including the optionals (Levels Seven and above).

The following is an example of scoring. Individual All-Around Awards are given to the gymnasts for each event. We usually report the all-around scores for first and second place and occasionally for third place. All-around scores are given for each age bracket within the level. A particular team may not win any first, second –or third all-around placements. Perhaps another team won those. These totals are separate from the team awards. For each of the four events, the top three (or five scores) of the entire level, all ages, are added up to get the event total. Then, the four event totals are added to obtain the team score.

Sample Score Card

Saturday, Jacksonville Gymnastics made team history by competing Level Three gymnasts for the first time in it’s seven-year history. The fifteen Level Three team members range in age from five to eleven years old and they competed exceptionally well with event scores as high as 9.450 out of 10.0. They scored an overall team score of 109.650, which was higher than the scores of the other team levels, with the exception of the Level Four Team.

Level Three Team Members who competed Saturday were:
Age five - Tonie Butler and Jordan Rogers
Age six - Sydney McGill
Age seven - Aspen Goldman, Maggie Lee, Allison Shaw, Anja Tech and Samantha Wade
Age eight - Rebecca Goldman
Age nine - Jessica Gardner
Age ten - Lauren Anderson, Kennedy Driskill, Christina Hensley and Hayley Paddock
Age eleven - Nidhi Gandhi

The Level Four team seems to be continuing it’s high-scoring trend for the third season. The Level Four team has been undefeated in the State of Arkansas for the past two seasons and was also undefeated in a large Shreveport meet last season. Twenty-five of the 29 Level Four team members competed Saturday and 18 of the 25 were also competing for the first time. The Level Four gymnasts scored individual event scores as high as 9.7 out of 10.0 and finished with a team score of 112.100, just two tenths of a point below the team record scored last year in the team- hosted Sweetheart Invitational Meet. 

Level Four members are:
Age seven – Mackenzie Ellis, Abby Grappe, TaLori Mosby, Madi Spears, Katherine Taylor, Katie Trujillo and Lynzie VanBrocklin
Age eight – Taylor Butler, Rachel Flippen, Ashley Harmon, Bailea Jones, Kendra Lytch, Terionna Stewart, Alex Taylor, Hannah Taylor and Sara Jane Womack
Age nine – Sabrina Barger, Ashton Bussard and Savannah Wade
Age ten – Hayley Henley, Amanda Hicks, Kaylen Perkins and Allison Storeygard
Age eleven – Natalie Castillo, Stevie Hughes, Janey’a Hutton and Lexi Webb
Age twelve – Madison Winstead

Nine of the Level Four gymnasts had an all-around score of 35.0 or higher (one score was 37.35) out of a total 40 points (ten points for each of the four events). The Level Four gymnasts are hoping to continue their winning streak.

The Level Five team has fourteen team members at this time, and twelve competed Saturday. The Level Five team members range in age from nine to thirteen, and this was the very first meet for ten-year-old Kimmie Edwards, who only began taking gymnastics less than a year ago.

The Level Five team members are:
Age nine – Terra Johnson and Samantha Sobba
Age ten – Kimmie Edwards, Lauren McKibben, Kaitlin Soderlund and Cami Wright
Age eleven – Kelsy Founds, Marisa Grissom, Tiffany Maxwell and Stephanie Singleton
Age twelve – Caitlyn Dillon, LaShalla Humphrey and Stephanie Scroggins
Age thirteen – Carol Walters

The gymnastics feats and skills become increasingly more difficult with each level and much is expected of the Level Six gymnasts. The Level Six Floor Exercise requires more dance and the floor skills that are required in the new routines are two front handsprings in succession, and a round-off – back-handspring - back tuck combination that, along with the length of the routine, tests the endurance of the Level Six gymnasts.

The Level Six team has eight members this year and they are:
Age eight – Haley Edgin
Age nine – Mackenzie Powers
Age ten – Samantha Gray
Age eleven – Cassidy Eberle, Allyson Ferren, Tori Hanley and Tori Spears
Age twelve – April Pitts

At Level Seven, the gymnasts begin to perform optional routines for each event. Each routine must include certain elements required for the level and the routines are choreographed by the Huff ‘n Puff coaching staff. Beginning at Level Seven, the gymnast may choose her own personal music for her floor-exercise routine. The music varies from such songs as “Devil Went Down to Georgia” to songs more jazz-like in nature. The chosen music becomes the signature of each particular gymnast for the season.

The thirteen Level Seven gymnasts are:
Age ten – Courtney Ellis and Hannah Womack
Age twelve – Kierra Daniel and Madison Ellis
Age thirteen – Krista Carlisle, Sissy Ghormley, Shannon Mavity and Taja’ Mitchem
Age fourteen – Rene’e LaFort, Audrey Nettles, Brooke Nevins, Missy Whittecar and
Frantasia Young

The skills and feats become increasingly more difficult with each level. The six Level Eight team members compete such skills as suks on vault, straddle backs on bars, back handsprings-full from beam, and front-tuck, roundoff, back-handspring, back-tuck combinations on floor exercise.

The Level Eight team members are:
Age twelve – Kayla Edgin and Taylor Rai Johnson
Age fourteen – Kelsey Lerner and Sarah McAlester
Age fifteen – Bonnie Brown and Jessica Wilde

Coaches for the Jacksonville Gymnastics Competitive Team are Head Coach Laurel Spears; Assistant Head Coach Erin Wunderl; Coaches Stacy Howerton, Lois Bryan, Christy Ellis, Denise Townsend, Amanda Heflin and Bobby Churches, Lead Recreational Coach. Assisting the coaches are Meaghan Townsend, Lindsey Sweet and Taylor Canfield.

The gymnasts, parents and coaches are looking forward to competition season. The gymnasts have spent all summer and fall preparing for this time. The first meet that the team will attend will be held November 18-19 and will be hosted by Delta Gymnastics at West Memphis.

Questions regarding the Jacksonville Gymnastics Team may be directed to Huff ‘n Puff staff members at 985-1818.

 

Smiling faces of some of the younger members of the Level Three Team are shown here.  These Level Three team members, along with their six older teammates (ages nine-ten and eleven) made team history by being part of the first Level Three Team to compete for Jacksonville Gymnastics.  The Level Three team will participate in several meets this season.  Front row, seated from left to right are Jordan Rogers, Samantha Wade, Rebecca Goldman and Anja Tech.  Standing, from left to right are Maggie Lee, Sydney McGill, Aspen Goldman, Allison Shaw and Tonie Butler. 

Level Four Gymnasts celebrate and enjoy their treats after an exhilarating performance at the 2005 Mock Meet held at Huff 'n Puff Saturday, October 22.  The team score of 112.100 was just two tenths below what last year's more experienced Level Four team scored in their Sweetheart Invitational Meet also held at their home gym last February. 

Level Six gymnasts, age eleven and twelve are shown here.  From left to right are April Pitts, age twelve and eleven-year-old gymnasts Tori Hanley, Tori Spears and Allyson Ferren.  Sorry, Allyson for letting my camera cut your head.

Four of the Level Seven Gymnasts who competed Saturday in the Mock Meet are shown here in the traditional gymnastics salute.  To the left and center are twelve-year-old Madison Ellis and Kierra Daniel.  Second left and right are Courtney Ellis and Hannah Womack, age ten.  Level Seven gymnasts are the first to compete optional routines.

Level Eight gymnast, Kelsey Lerner is caught in this photo at the top of her "giant" as she warmed up in her bar routine before competing for the judges.  The giant on bars is  one of the more difficult feats expected of Level Seven and Eight gymnasts.  This feat sooner or later becomes "just another of those skills that they have conquered."