PRESS RELEASE MAR 14, 2004
JACKSONVILLE GYMNASTICS USAG JUNIOR OLYMPIC COMPETITIVE
LEVEL SEVEN TEAM
WINS THIRD-PLACE TEAM BANNER AT STATE MEET
USAG Junior Olympic Competitive Gymnasts, Levels Six, Seven, Eight, Nine and Ten, representing twenty-five teams from the entire State of Arkansas congregated last Saturday in Little Rock to compete in the State Meet, which ended the 2003-2004 competitive season.
Jacksonville Gymnastics Level Seven Team competed against 67 gymnasts from 15 teams from across Arkansas. The Jacksonville Team won third in the state meet behind two of the state’s largest and most competitive teams. Jacksonville missed second place by only .4 of a point and had beaten the second-place winner (Williams Gymnastics of Fayetteville) the week before when Jacksonville won first place in the Fort Smith Special Olympics Benefit Meet. Jacksonville can well be proud of all the gymnasts who represent them.
The Jacksonville Gymnastics Level Seven team members are ten-year-old Emily West, eleven-year-old Kristi-Paige Danielson, twelve-year-old Kelsey Lerner and Sarah McAllister, fourteen-year-old Jessica Wilde and fifteen-year-old Meaghan Townsend and Amber Utnage.
Individual honors were as follows: Emily West won third-place individual all-around for ten-year-old gymnasts. Kristi-Paige Danielson won seventh-place individual all-around for eleven-year-old gymnasts. Kelsey Lerner won fifth-place individual all-around for twelve-year-old gymnasts. Sarah McAlister won second-place individual all-around, making her runner-up state champion for twelve-year-old gymnasts.
Jessica Wilde won fourth-place individual all-around for fourteen-year-old gymnasts. Amber Utnage won fourth-place individual all-around for fifteen-year-old gymnasts. Meaghan Townsend won first on vault and won second-place individual all-around for fifteen-year-old gymnasts, also making her runner-up state champion for her age bracket.
State gymnasts, Levels Eight, Nine and Ten competed Saturday evening. Jacksonville Gymnastics will begin competing Level Eight gymnasts for the first time next season. Five years ago, Head Coach Laurel Spears began competing with only eleven Level Four gymnasts and in the fall, she and coaches Erin Wunderl and Shane McDonald will take Levels Four, Five, Six, Seven and Eight to competition. At this higher level of competition, the teams become much smaller and fewer teams compete, making the competition very tough. Huff ‘n Puff is truly proud of the progress made by its entire Jacksonville Gymnastics Competitive team.
The state’s competitions end with the Level Five State meet that will be held March 27, at Flame Gymnastics in Fort Smith. The Jacksonville Gymnastics Level Five team, consisting of ten gymnasts, will attend the meet
Jacksonville Gymnastics USAG Junior Olympic Level Seven Competitive Team
Wins Third Place Team Banner at State Meet
The seven Level Seven gymnasts from Huff ‘n Puff’s own Jacksonville Gymnastics Competitive Team proudly display the State banner that they had just won. The local gymnasts competed against 67 gymnasts from fourteen other teams to win this banner at the State Meet held last Saturday. Shown from left to right are: Jessica Wilde, Amber Utnage, Sarah McAlister, Kelsey Lerner, Kristi-Paige Danielson, Meaghan Townsend and Emily West. Levels Six, Seven, Eight, Nine and Ten competed in this meet.
