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Press Release Harvest Fest at Delta Gymnastics, West Memphis November 20, 2005
OH, WHAT A DAY!!!!!
JACKSONVILLE GYMNASTICS COMPETES FIVE LEVELS
AND WINS FIVE FIRST-PLACE TEAM TROPHIES!!!
The team gymnasts from Huff ‘n Puff have worked many long hours over the summer and this fall. The gymnasts work from two hours twice a week to three and four hours, four days a week, depending on their level. But it seems to have paid off for Jacksonville Gymnastics as they started off their competitive meet season with a bang. Five Levels of the Jacksonville Gymnastics USAG Junior Olympic Competitive Team competed Saturday at Delta Gymnastics in West Memphis, Arkansas, and the Team brought home the five first-place team trophies awarded at the meet. Over 200 gymnasts, representing ten teams, competed in the meet, including 74 of the Jacksonville Gymnastics Team Members, who range in age from five to sixteen, Levels Three through Eight. The team members also won 34 first and second-place individual all-around honors and many more event awards.
Fourteen members of the new Level Three team competed Friday night in their first meet and ended up with a team score of 110.10 – a formidable score for any level of competition. The team competed against level three team members from two other teams and no team trophies were presented. Six first and second-place individual all-around honors were awarded to the Jacksonville Gymnasts. The Jacksonville Gymnastics Level Three team scored 109.65 in their mock meet held in October at their home gym and with the 110.10 from this meet, the team is off to a great start. The team members who competed in this meet were: Tonie Butler and Jordan Rogers, age five; Sydney McGill, age six; Aspen Goldman, Maggie Lee, Allison Shaw, and Anja Tech, age seven; Rebecca Goldman, age eight; Jessica Gardner, age nine; Lauren Anderson, Kennedy Driskill, Christina Hensley and Hayley Paddock, age ten; and Nidhi Gandhi, age eleven.
First and Second-place individual all-around honors were awarded to the following Jacksonville Gymnastics Level Three competitors: Tonie Butler, second place; Allison Shaw, second place; Anja Tech, first place; Hayley Paddock, second place; and Nidhi Gandhi, first place. Kennedy Driskill won first-place all-around for age ten, Level Three, with a 36.20, the third highest score of all Jacksonville team members at this meet.
A successful first competitive meet brings happy faces to the Jacksonville Gymnastics Level Three Team. Shown here first row, left to right are Hayley Paddock, Maggie Lee, Kennedy Driskill and Rebecca Goldman. Second row, left to right are Tonie Butler, Sydney McGill, Jessica Gardner, Christina Hensley, Jordan Rogers, Nidhi Gandhi, Aspen Goldman, Asst Coach Meaghan Townsend, Lauren Anderson, Anja Tech and Allison Shaw. No trophy for the Level Three Teams but what a score!!!!!! 110.1 - Great going, Girls!!!
All-around scores are determined by totaling the gymnast’s scores from each of the four events – the vault, uneven bars, beam and floor exercise. A gymnast’s all-around score depends strictly on how well she did that day and how well the other gymnasts of the same age competed. Team awards are not always given to Level Threes, in an effort to not make that level too competitive, but when Team awards are given, the scores for each level are determined by totaling the top three scores, all ages, on each event and then the four event scores are totaled. In this way, any team member, no matter the age, younger or older, within the level, may contribute to the team’s total score. All meets are judged by USAG accredited judges, mostly from Arkansas, so judging in Arkansas will not vary too much from meet to meet. Every gymnast in each level wins a place for her age bracket in each of the four events. Then the individual all-around awards are announced and each gymnast wins a place in the all-around for her age bracket. Due to lack of space, we usually report only individual all-around honors for first and second places.
Twenty-six members of the Jacksonville Level Four team, ranging in age from seven to twelve, competed in the Saturday night session and won first-place team honors with a team score of 110.580. Team members who competed were: 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 and Ashton Bussard; age ten – Hayley Henley, Amanda Hicks, Kaylen Perkins and Allison Storeygard; age eleven – Natalie Castillo, Janey’a Hutton and Lexi Webb; and age twelve, Madison Winstead.
The following Level Four gymnasts won the first and second-place individual all-around awards for their age bracket: age seven, Mackenzie Ellis, second place; age eight, Kendra Lytch, first place and Sara Jane Womack, second place; age ten, Amanda Hicks, second place: age eleven, Natalie Castillo, first place; and age twelve, Madison Winstead, first place.
Jacksonville Gymnastics Level Four Team members continue their winning streak from the past two years as they win First-Place Team Trophy at West Memphis Meet held Saturday. The Level Four gymnasts from left to right, kneeling are: Talori Mosby, Katie Trujillo, Mackenzie Ellis, Bailea Jones, Kendra Lytch, and Madi Spears. Second row, standing from left to right, are: Hayley Henley, Alex Taylor, Sabrina Barger, Amanda Hicks, Terionna Stewart and Ashley Harmon. Third row on podium, left to right, Lynzie VanBrocklin, Janey’a Hutton, Ashton Bussard, Hannah Taylor, Sara Jane Womack, Maggie Lee, Taylor Butler, Natalie Castillo, Lexie Webb, Abby Grappe, Kaylen Perkins and Kathryn Taylor. Standing on top of podium, Madison Winstead and Allison Storeygard.
The Level Five teams competed in the Saturday afternoon session and Jacksonville Gymnastics Level Five gymnasts also won the first-place team trophy. The thirteen gymnasts on the Level Five team 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 and Stephanie Scroggins; and age thirteen – Carol Walters.
The following Level Five gymnasts won first and second-place individual all-around awards for their age bracket: age nine, Samantha Sobba, first, and Terra Johnson, second; age ten, Kaitlin Soderlund, second place; age eleven, Kelsy Founds, second; age twelve, Stephanie Scroggins, first place; and age thirteen, Carol Walters, first place.
Level Five gymnasts pose happily with the First-Place Team Trophy that they won this weekend at their first sanctioned meet of the new season. Shown here from left to right are Stephanie Scroggins, Tiffany Maxwell, Cami Wright, Caitlyn Dillon, Carol Walters, Stephanie Singleton, Lauren McKibben, Kelsy Founds, Kaitlin Soderlund, Samantha Sobba, Terra Johnson, Marisa Grissom, and Kimmie Edwards.
Levels Six, Seven and Eight competed in the early morning session that began at 8:00 a.m. The eight Level Six gymnasts who competed and won the first-place team trophy for their level pretty well represent the entire Jacksonville Gymnastics team – these members are from many areas in central Arkansas ranging from Searcy, Beebe, Maumelle, Sherwood, Jacksonville and Alexander. Other team members are from Bryant, Little Rock, North Little Rock, Cabot and Ward. The Level Six team members who competed early Saturday morning are: age eight, Haley Edgin; age nine, Mackenzie Powers; age ten, Samantha Gray, age eleven, Cassidy Eberle, Allyson Ferren, Tori Hanley and Tori Spears; and age twelve, April Pitts.
The Jacksonville Gymnastics Level Six team won the following first or second-place individual all-around awards: age eight, Haley Edgin, first place; age ten, Samantha Gray, first place; age eleven, Allyson Ferren, first place and Tori Hanley, second place; and age twelve, April Pitts, first place.
Holding their First-Place Team Trophy are the Jacksonville Gymnastics Level Six Gymnasts. These competitors are from different areas in Central Arkansas and represent the diverse home areas of the entire gym. These particular gymnasts are from Searcy, Beebe, Alexander, Maumelle, Sherwood and Jacksonville. From left to right, first row, they are April Pitts, Mackenzie Powers, Haley Edgin, and Cassidy Eberle. Second row are Tori Hanley, Tori Spears, Allyson Ferren and Samantha Gray.
The Jacksonville Gymnastics Level Seven team continues to be strong. Nine gymnasts of the twelve-member team, won the first-place team trophy Saturday morning with a score of 109.05. Competitors at levels seven, eight, nine and ten are called optional gymnasts, and at that level, each has her own individual routine choreographed for each event, based on requirements for that event and level. The Level Seven optionals who competed Saturday were: Courtney Ellis, and Hannah Womack, age ten; Kierra Daniel and Madison Ellis, age twelve; Krista Carlisle, Sissy Ghormley and Shannon Mavity, age thirteen; and Audrey Nettles, and Missy Whittecar, age fourteen. Courtney, Kierra and Krista won first-place individual all-around honors for their age brackets; and Hannah, Madison, Sissy and Missy won second-place all-around honors. Shannon and Audrey had very close third-place scores for all-around.
“Winning is a Wonderful Feeling” as represented by these eight Level Seven Optional Gymnasts as they proudly display their First-Place Trophy won Saturday at Delta Gymnastics in West Memphis. Shown here from left to right are: Audrey Nettles, Madison Ellis, Courtney Ellis, Hannah Womack, Krista Carlisle, Shannon Mavity, Missy Whittecar and Sissy Ghormley. Not shown, but also competing was Kierra Daniel. The gymnasts are part of the twelve-member Level Seven Optional Team, Jacksonville Gymnastics.
To complete the first-place team awards won by the Jacksonville Gymnastics Team were four of the six Level Eight team members. The gymnasts scored a team total of 107.35 and each won first or second individual all-around awards. The level eight gymnasts were: age twelve - Kayla Edgin who won second-place individual all-around and Taylor Rai Johnson who won the first-place individual all-around honors; and age fourteen - Kelsey Lerner, who won first-place all-around, and Sarah McAlister, won second-place all-around.
“Hard Work Pays Off” – These four gymnasts from the six-member Level Eight Team from Jacksonville Gymnastics know what it takes to be a successful gymnast. They successfully competed difficult skills to win the First-Place Team Trophy and to win top individual all-around honors. Shown left to right are Kayla Edgin, Taylor Rai Johnson, Sarah McAlister and Kelsey Lerner.
It was definitely a good day for the Jacksonville Gymnastics team – it was the first meet for many of the team members and for some of the others, not their first meet, but first with the Jacksonville Team. Jacksonville Gymnastics team is a meld of gymnasts from many areas. Many of the gymnasts are “home grown” in that they began their gymnastics at the home gym at Huff ‘n Puff and many others have joined from other local areas or from as far away as Ohio and even Hawaii. Hard work on the part of the coaching staff and the gymnasts has helped form a fantastic beginning of what is hoped to be another great season for the team. The coaching staff members, under the direction of Head Coach Laurel Spears and Assistant Head Coach Erin Wunderl are: Stacy Howerton, Lois Bryan, Christy Ellis, Denise Townsend and Amanda Hefner and Assistant Coaches, Lindsey Sweet, Taylor Canfield and Meaghan Townsend. Many of the team’s Level Three and Four gymnasts have come directly from the recreational classes of lead recreational coach Bobby Churches. Coaches Tiffany Fikes and Christy Ellis also prepare recreational gymnasts for the future when they might want to join the team.
The team members will continue to improve their skills as they prepare for their next meet, the Pepsi Challenge, a large meet hosted by Hot Springs Gymnastics which will be held at Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia the weekend of December 10-11th. Jacksonville Gymnastics Men’s Team will compete in their first meet December 3d in Ft. Smith.
We are all so excited that the Meet Season is finally here. The gymnasts and coaches have worked very hard and the girls just seem to get better and better - and it's hard to believe that they have all progressed as they have. They look good!!!!! They seem to be getting stronger and stronger.
If you want to know more about Jacksonville Gymnastics USAG Junior Olympic Competitive Teams, please call 985-1818 and ask for Laurel or Sheryl.
