JACKSONVILLE GYMNASTICS LEVEL SIX TEAM
WINS
STATE CHAMPIONSHIP!!!
GYM ALSO HOME TO THREE STATE CHAMPIONS!
Arkansas USAG Junior Olympic Gymnastics competitions to determine State Championships for Levels Six through Ten were held this weekend in the Arkansas Tech University Coliseum at Russellville. Individual event championships and all-around individual championships were also awarded for each age bracket or division for the different levels.
The nine Jacksonville Gymnastics Level Six team members won the Championship for the State of Arkansas. It would have been difficult to tell who was the most excited – the gymnasts -- the coaches -- or the parents. The Jacksonville Gymnastics team has only been competing for seven seasons and this is the first time to bring home a State Championship Banner. Last year, the Level Six Team (different team members who have since moved to Level Seven) won the Second-Place Team Championship and Level Seven team members have won the third-place team award two prior years.
Seventy-six gymnasts from sixteen Level Six Teams from across Arkansas competed Friday night. The Jacksonville team members competed hard and ended up with one of their best scores for the season. Each team member may contribute to the team score – the top three scores are taken for each event. Then the total for the four events are totaled for the team score. Additionally, two of the Jacksonville Team gymnasts won Individual All-Around Championships for their age. Eight-year-old Haley Edgin and eleven-year-old Tori Hanley won the Individual All-Around Championships for their respective ages, Level Six. This means that each gymnast had the highest total score from the four events – vault, uneven bars, balance beam and floor exercise. Haley is from near Alexander and Tori is from Beebe. Two Jacksonville gymnasts also won individual event championships for their age. Nine-year old Mackenzie Powers won the state title for bars, and twelve-year-old Morgan Bussard won the state title for vault.
The Level Six team members are Morgan Bussard, Cassidy Eberle, Haley Edgin, Allyson Ferren, Samantha Gray, Tori Hanley, April Pitts, Mackenzie Powers and Tori Spears.
Level Seven gymnasts, ages eight through eleven and fourteen through seventeen competed at 8:00 Saturday morning. Level Seven gymnasts, ages twelve and thirteen, competed at 12:00, making a total of 68 Level Seven gymnasts from fifteen teams vieing for State Honors. Sixteen Level Nine Gymnasts and three Level Ten Gymnasts also competed for their State championships at the noon session.
The ten members of the Jacksonville Level Seven Team won the Fifth-Place State Banner. The team members are Krista Carlisle, Kierra Daniel, Courtney Ellis, Madison Ellis, Sissy Ghormley, Rene’e LaFort, Taja’ Mitchem, Audrey Nettles, Brooke Nevins and Missy Whittecar. Shannon Mavity was unable to join her teammates due to an ankle injury. Rene’e won Vault Championship for fourteen-year olds and Audrey Nettles with a 9.5 tied as State Champion for Beam, also for fourteen-year-old Level Seven gymnasts. Ten-year-old Courtney Ellis tied for State Individual All-Around Championship for her age bracket, Level Seven. Courtney was also 2005 State Champion for ten-year-olds, Level Six, and for nine-year-olds at Level Five in 2004.
Forty-one Level Eight gymnasts from ten teams competed Saturday at 5:00. The five gymnasts from the Jacksonville Level Eight team who competed were: Kayla Edgin and Taylor Rai Johnson, age twelve; Kelsey Lerner and Sarah McAlister, age fourteen; and Jessica Wilde, age sixteen. Although Jacksonville gymnasts have remained fairly injury-free, Jessica had recently sprained her ankle and Sarah suffered a badly pulled muscle just Thursday night – a difficult way to compete under any circumstances, let alone the important state meet. In spite of the injuries, the team won the Fifth-Place Team Award and Kelsey Lerner won Second-Place Individual All-Around Award with a 37.2, only .65 under the first-place award. Kelsey was also selected to attend the Level Eight Regional Competition to be held in Wichita, Kansas, April 8-9. She is the first gymnast from Jacksonville Gymnastics Team to attend a regional competition.
The Jacksonville Level Four gymnasts will attend their State-sponsored “Fun Meet” this Friday and Level Five gymnasts will attend their State Meet this Saturday, both to be held at the Pine Bluff Convention Center. Coaches for the Women’s team are Head Coach Laurel Spears; Assistant Head Coach Erin Wunderl; and Stacy Howerton and Lois Bryan.
The competitive season will end when the Men’s Team competes in their State Meet March 25th in Conway. And then the work will continue as the gymnasts resume their rigorous training for the next competitive season and new team members will be selected to begin their training.
Jacksonville Gymnastics Level Six Members Win State Championship. Shown here proudly displaying the State Championship Banner that they had just won, from left to right, are gymnasts Samantha Gray, Tori Spears, Tori Hanley, Allyson Ferren, Morgan Bussard, Cassidy Eberle, Mackenzie Powers and April Pitts. Seated in front of banner is Haley Edgin. Pictured with the gymnasts are team Coaches Lois Bryan, Laurel Spears, Stacy Howerton and Erin Wunderl. Haley, age eight, and Tori Hanley, age eleven, are each also Level Six State All-Around Champion for their respective ages.
Jacksonville Gymnastics Level Seven Team Members had just won the Fifth-Place State Banner. Gymnasts from left to right are Krista Carlisle, Taja’ Mitchem, Kierra Daniel, Courtney Ellis, Sissy Ghormley, Madison Ellis, Audrey Nettles and Brooke Nevins. Also competing in the earlier session but unable to stay for team awards were Rene’e LaFort and Missy Whittecar. Courtney Ellis had also just tied for Level Seven State Champion for age ten.
The Level Eight Team Members of the Jacksonville Gymnastics Competitive Team also won the Fifth-Place Team Banner. Celebrating here, from left to right, are Sarah McAlister, Jessica Wilde, Kayla Edgin, Kelsey Lerner and Taylor Rai Johnson. Kelsey was Second-Place State Champion for Level Eight Gymnasts, age fourteen. She was also selected to attend the Level Eight Regional Competition in Wichita, Kansas in early April.
All work and no play makes Jane a dull girl - these hardworking gymnasts are far from dull! They do know however when to work and how to play. We all know how hard they train to be the wonderful gymnasts that they are.
The Jacksonville Gymnastics Level Eight Team Members relax before beginning their rigorous competition Saturday night in the State Competition held in Russellville. The gymnasts were five of the forty-one gymnasts who represented ten Arkansas Teams in the state meet. The gymnasts from left to right are Taylor Rai Johnson, Kelsey Lerner, Kayla Edgin, Jessica Wilde and Sarah McAlister.
Jacksonville Gymnastics Team Members All - We are so proud of each of you!!!!!!
Good Friends!!!!!!
We love to relax after a hard meet!!!!!
Preparing for a meet can be difficult also!!!!
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