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WEB RELEASE FEBRUARY 18, 2007
JACKSONVILLE GYMNASTICS TEAM PUTS THE HEART INTO THEIR SEVENTH ANNUAL SWEETHEART INVITATIONAL MEET AS THEY WIN FOUR FIRST-PLACE TEAM TROPHIES
This past weekend, the entire Jacksonville Gymnastics USAG Junior Olympic Competitive Team put its Heart into the Seventh Annual Sweetheart Invitational Competitive Meet, which was also hosted by its own team. The first session was held Friday night at Huff ‘n Puff Gymnasium; and the other six sessions of the meet, beginning early Saturday morning and ending Sunday night about 7:30, were held at the Jacksonville High School Gymnasium. Five Hundred and Sixty-two gymnasts from 25 teams competed in this meet before overflowing crowds of parents, grandparents and friends at each session. Almost every compulsory team (Level Three – Six) and many of the optional teams (Levels Seven – Nine) in Arkansas, plus another team from Mississippi, competed in this meet.
The competing teams were Cabot Gymnastics; Champions of Jonesboro; Champions of Paragould; Delta Gymnastics, West Memphis; Dorsey’s Gymnastics, Sheridan; Durham’s Gymnastics, Springdale; Elite 11 Gymnastics, Tupelo, Mississippi; Flip Flop Gymnastics, Pine Bluff; Flipover Gymnastics, Little Rock; Great Expectations, Camden; Gym Stars, Searcy; Gym Twisters, Russellville; Gymnastics Plus, Arkadelphia; Hot Springs Gymnastics; Maumelle Gymnastics; Mega Gymnastics, NLR; NLR Superstars; River City Gymnastics, Little Rock; SAGA, Hope; Sonshine Gymnastics, Conway; Stars and Stripes, Batesville; Tena’s Gymnastics, Russellville; Westside Y Gymnastics, Little Rock; X-Treme Gymnastics, Ft Smith; and Jacksonville Gymnastics.
Hosting a meet of this size is a very large undertaking and involves many man-hours from almost anyone associated with the team---not only the coaches and staff--but with many hours being volunteered by the parents, grandparents and even friends. After a location is found that is large enough to house a gymnastics meet, equipment must be rented to accommodate the meet – equipment that more than fills a semi-truck trailer.
The equipment for the meet could not be set up until after Friday night’s basketball game, and the volunteers were there until 1:30 Friday night with many returning by 7:30 the next morning. Even people who are associated with gymnastics cannot imagine how much time is involved with unloading the trailer and how much effort it takes to put together and set up the many separate and heavy pieces of equipment required for a double set up of equipment and flooring needed for a meet this large. At least sixty people were involved with the set-up Friday night, including fathers and even some moms. The parents were pleasantly surprised when about 20 young airmen (both male and female) arrived from the Little Rock Air Force Base to assist with the hard work. Some of the same airmen, plus others, also assisted the gym parents Sunday night with the “take-down” and loading of the equipment. Members of the Jacksonville Parents Association ran the concession from the beginning to the end of the meet. Parents and gymnasts alike assisted at each of the judging tables. Since two sets of equipment are needed for each event at the meet, (one group of gymnasts warms up on each event while another group competes on each event) at least 16 volunteers are needed on the floor for each session.
Jacksonville Gymnastics Parents Association parents were in charge of the coaches’ room and serving three meals a day for each of the coaches from all the teams for all seven sessions. Additionally, the same parents were responsible for the room, food and refreshments for the judges for the seven sessions. Wendy’s in Jacksonville furnished the Friday night meal and Grampa’s Catfish House, NLR, furnished the catfish, chicken and sides for a meal on Saturday for the coaches, judges and working parents. Still other coaches and parents were responsible for the “goodie” bags (and the contents) that were given to each of the 562 gymnasts, and additionally responsible for obtaining and distribution of the many door prizes for the gymnasts. Different articles and food coupons were donated by central Arkansas businesses. Several dentists and orthodontists from Jacksonville, Cabot, and North Little Rock donated toothbrushes for each gymnast; another Cabot dental firm and local dentist donated special rulers that were imprinted with the slogan “Brush and Floss as a Rule.” Donations of different types were also received from even Little Rock and North Little Rock firms for door prizes as well as articles for the goodie bags. Personal cosmetic consultants from Cabot and Pine Bluff donated cosmetic samples for the bags. State Farm agents from Jacksonville, North Little Rock and Little Rock also contributed articles for the goodie bags. Jacksonville Gymnastics Team furnished the yearly Sweetheart Invitational Cup for each gymnast, as well as a special Sweetheart CD. Specially screen-printed canvas bags, with gifts, were given to the coaches and judges by the host team. Door prizes were also given to different coaches at different sessions. The parents of the Jacksonville gymnasts had each donated several gifts for the door prizes and handouts. These door prizes for the gymnasts varied from jewelry, to age-appropriate cosmetic selections and special purses and stuffed animals or just about anything that a gymnast of any age would be eager to receive. Goodie bags are handed out at the end of each session and door prize selections are drawn ahead of time to be given to a percentage of each team’s participants. The gymnasts, no matter the age, always feel like this is a well-earned treat for working so hard at their competition and they always look forward to this special relaxing and fun time just before the awards are announced.
Every year a special t-shirt of different colors and styles is designed for the year’s meet and in the past, participating teams have been listed in different forms on the back of the t-shirt. The meet has grown so large that there is no longer room for all the names of the teams to be listed. This year, instead, the name of the co-sponsor of the meet is listed on the back of the meet t-shirts – the North Point Collision Centers from North Little Rock, who helped sponsor this year’s meet. This was the first year for the Team to have a sponsor to assist with the huge financial undertaking of hosting a meet of this size and it is hoped that other firms will realize the importance of gymnastics to the State of Arkansas and will assist in future endeavors.
Early Friday evening, (before the setup of the equipment at Jacksonville High School) 63 Level Three gymnasts from six Arkansas teams and the Mississippi team competed at Huff ‘n Puff. Since this was a non-sanctioned session, team trophies were awarded and Elite 11 from Tupelo won the First-Place Team Trophy for this session of Level Threes. The other Level Three session, in which four other teams competed, was held Sunday night and the Jacksonville Level Three team competed in that session.
The Jacksonville Gymnastics Team--one of the largest in the state consisting of 75 gymnasts, Levels Three through Level Eight, ages seven to fifteen--competed in all three sessions on Saturday and in two sessions on Sunday.
Ninety-five Level Four gymnasts from nine Arkansas teams competed Saturday morning at 8:00. The large Jacksonville Level Four team of 24 gymnasts, including the three Level Three gymnasts who only recently had been moved to Level Four, won the Second-Place Trophy. The hometown team members won 18 top event honors and Individual All-Around honors for their age groups were won as follows:
Tonie Butler, age seven, First Place
Jordan Rogers, age seven, Third Place
Lynzie VanBrocklin, age eight, Third Place
In the Saturday 12:30 session, 43 Level Five gymnasts from ten teams competed at the same time as 47 Level Six gymnasts from thirteen teams, including six of the Jacksonville Level Six gymnasts. (The Jacksonville Level Five Team competed in the Sunday morning session.) The Jacksonville Level Six gymnasts won the First Place Team Trophy, and thirteen event top honors. The following Team gymnasts won Individual All-Around honors:
Jessica McDonough, age 11, Third Place
Tori Spears, age 12, Second Place
Kelsy Founds, age 12, Third Place
Caitlyn Dillon, age 13, First Place
Seventy-three optional gymnasts (Levels Seven, Eight and Nine) from thirteen teams competed in the Saturday evening session. The optional gymnasts compete routines choreographed by their coaches or sometimes by hired choreographers, and the floor routine is performed to music chosen by the gymnast and her coach that usually fits the personality of the gymnast. Fifty-three Level Seven gymnasts from eleven teams competed and the nine Jacksonville Gymnastics Level Seven Team gymnasts won the First-Place Team Trophy. They also won 24 top event awards and the following top Individual All-Around Awards:
Haley Edgin, age nine, First Place
Mackenzie Powers, age ten, tied for Second Place
Samantha Gray, age eleven, Second Place
Tori Hanley, age 12, First Place
Krista Carlisle, age 13, Third Place
Sissy Ghormley, age 14, First Place
Missy Whittecar, age 15, First Place
Trophies were also awarded at each session to the one gymnast with the highest all-around score for that session. Tori Hanley (Level Seven), with an all-around score of 37.025 won the trophy for this session that included all the Level Seven, Eight and Nine gymnasts.
Ten Level Eight gymnasts from six teams competed at this same Saturday evening session. The four Jacksonville Level Eight team members won the First-Place Team Trophy. They also won fifteen event top honors and their top Individual All-Around Honors earned are as follows:
Kayla Edgin, age thirteen, First Place (age 11 to 13 category)
Courtney Ellis, age eleven, Second Place (age 11to 13 category)
Taylor Rai Johnson, age thirteen, Third Place (age eleven to thirteen)
Kelsey Lerner, age 15, Second Place
Eleven Level Nine gymnasts from four teams competed at this same session. Jacksonville team will have Level Nine gymnasts ready to compete by next season.
The Sunday morning session began at 8:00 as 78 more Level Five gymnasts from nine teams competed. Twelve of the Jacksonville Level Five gymnasts competed and won the First-Place Team Trophy. They also earned 27 top event awards and the following Individual All-Around Top Honors for their age bracket:
Mackenzie Ellis, age eight, Second Place
Taylor Butler, age nine, First Place
Kendra Lytch, age nine, Second Place
Stephanie Singleton, age twelve, Third Place
Stephanie Scroggins, age thirteen, First Place
Madison Winstead, age thirteen, Second Place
Carol Walters, age fourteen, First Place
Another large group of 77 Level Four gymnasts from nine teams competed in the Sunday 12:30 session. The Elite 11 Team won the First-Place Team Trophy for this session. The Jacksonville Level Four team had competed in the larger Saturday morning session, so it gave the Jacksonville coaches a little bit of a breather as they had to only help run the meet and not be coaching on the floor at the same time.
The seventh and final session of the meet was held Sunday night at 5:00 with 44 more Level Four gymnasts from six teams competing at the same time as 38 Level Three gymnasts from four teams. Level Four is the most popular competitive level in most states. A total of 219 Level Four gymnasts competed in the Sweetheart Invitational meet this year and that still did not include all the Level Four gymnasts in the State. More teams are now beginning to compete at Level Three and a total of 101 Level Three gymnasts competed in this meet, including the 11 gymnasts from out of state. Jacksonville competed seventeen Level Three gymnasts in this last session and they ended with their highest team score of the season. No team awards were given for the Level Three teams at this session because it was a sanctioned meet for Level Four Teams, but the Jacksonville Level Three team won 23 top event awards and the following gymnasts won top Individual All-Around awards:
Abby Houghtaling, age seven, First Place
Sarah Beavers, age seven, Second Place
Briyana Isaac, age nine, First Place
Lainey Necessary, age nine, Third Place
Lauren Foster, age ten, First Place
Victoria Maness, age ten Third Place
Newcomer to competitive gymnastics and to the Level Three team, Ashley Hudson, who just moved here from California, placed Fourth in the nine-year-old division. This is the last meet of the season for the Level Three team. They will begin working on Level Four skills now that their competitive season is over.
The entertaining emcee for all seven sessions of the meet, as last year, was T. J. Johnston, father of one of the Team gymnasts. He also began each session with an inspiring and meaningful prayer written especially for this meet and for the gymnasts and their families. Amanda Raukhorst, a coach for the recreational program at Huff ‘n Puff and at the LRAFB Youth Center, beautifully sang the National Anthem for the first three sessions. At the last session, Maeghan Ghormley, sixteen-year-old sister of one of the gymnasts, beautifully sang an alto version of the National Anthem. Both vocalists performed without accompaniment. John Ellis successfully computed all the scores in a very timely manner, no small accomplishment in itself. And, Jacksonville Gymnastics has a wonderful new awards presentation stand made by Tony Parks.
It is estimated that 2,500 to 3,000 people were in Jacksonville for at least several hours with some spending the entire weekend in this area. Jacksonville Gymnastics is very grateful for the community support of the meet. Meet Director for this very successful Seventh Annual Sweetheart Invitational was Laurel Spears, Jacksonville Gymnastics Head Coach. Assisting in coordinating and planning this large undertaking were Assistant Head Coach Erin Wunderl and the other Team coaches, Stacy Howerton, Lois Bryan and Christy Ellis. Also assisting and working endless hours towards this very successful meet was Lead Recreational Coach Bobby Churches. These meets could never be as successful as they are and receive the high praise from everyone if it were not for the assistance of all the coaches and parents.
Levels Four, Five, Six, Seven and Eight will compete this weekend at Durham’s in Springdale. In early March, the Levels Five, Six, Seven and Eight will compete at the large Conoco-Phillips Meet in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, against very tough competition before going on to compete in their Arkansas State Meets in mid-March.
Jacksonville Gymnastics Level Three gymnasts pose after successfully competing and receiving their season high score in their last competitive meet of the season. From left to right, front row are Sydney Hughes, Abby Houghtaling, Miranda Chambers, Mattie Taylor, Natalie Donley, Kayla Gregory, Hali Wilder, and Lakyn Powers. Back row, left to right are Regan Campbell, Sara Heil, Lauren Foster, Victoria Maness, Lainey Necessary, Ashley Hudson, Sarah Seibel and Sarah Beavers.
Two hundred nineteen Level Four gymnasts competed at the Seventh Annual Sweetheart Invitational Gymnastics Competition hosted by Jacksonville Gymnastics. Proudly displaying their medals and their Second-Place Team Trophy are the 24 members of the Jacksonville Gymnastics Level Four Team. Shown here first row from left to right are Alli Shaw, Savannah Wade, Hannah Taylor, and Tonie Butler. Second row, left to right are Anja Tech, Maggie Lee, Sierra Rohauer, Jordan Rogers, Sydney McGill, Rachel Flippen, Katherine Taylor, Jadyn Perkins, Kayla McGee, Madi Spears and Lynzie VanBrocklin. Back row, left to right, are Katy Gorden, Katie Trujillo, Sabrina Barger, Jessica Gardner, Alex Taylor, Lauren Anderson, Kennedy Driskill, Nidhi Gandhi and Kaylen Perkins.
The Jacksonville Level Five Team Members are displaying the First-Place Team Trophy that they had just won at the Sweetheart Invitational Meet. Seventy-eight gymnasts from nine teams had competed in this session. From left to right are Stephanie Scroggins, Terionna Stewart, Mackenzie Ellis, Stephanie Singleton, Carol Walters, Kendra Lytch, Taylor Butler, Allison Storeygard, Amanda Hicks, Madison Winstead and Bailea Mitchell Jones.
The Jacksonville Gymnastics Level Six Team members pose here on the new Team Awards Presentation Stand and display their First-Place Team Trophy. Joining the team members for the photo is Samantha Sobba, who has been out for several weeks with a broken foot. From left to right are the other Level Six gymnasts Tori Spears, Kimmie Edwards, Kelsy Founds, Cassidy Eberle, Jessica McDonough and Caitlyn Dillon.
It was difficult to decide who had more fun – the parents and fans of the Jacksonville Level Seven Team members or the gymnasts as they competed for and won the First-Place Team Trophy. From left to right are Sissy Ghormley, April Pitts, Tori Hanley, Missy Whittecar, Allyson Ferren, Samantha Gray, Mackenzie Powers, Haley Edgin and Krista Carlisle. The Level Seven Team members represent the entire central Arkansas area, from Alexander and Bryant to Maumelle to North Little Rock and Sherwood, to Searcy, Beebe and Jacksonville. Other Jacksonville team members are from Conway, Lonoke and Ward.
Shown here are the Jacksonville Gymnastics Level Eight team members who competed in the Saturday night session at the same time as the Level Seven and Level Nine gymnasts. These gymnasts won the First-Place Team Trophy. Jacksonville was the only Level Eight Team to be eligible for the award as it takes three scores for the total score. Competition at the optional level is fierce and the Jacksonville team scores and individual scores for this meet speak for themselves – and the gymnasts well deserved this trophy. The team members on the bottom row, left to right are Courtney Ellis and Kayla Edgin; standing are Taylor Rai Johnson and Kelsey Lerner.
Heart of a Champion
It takes more than skill and talent, and muscle and brains to become a gymnast. A gymnast must have heart and with the heart comes the love for the sport and the fortitude to stick with it when the going gets tough. Who else would want to go the gym to work as many as 16 hours a week at conditioning, or to work at those bars skills, and continuing to work until they have blisters on their hands that end up in a rip that bleeds. Who else but a gymnast would want to condition for an hour each day and then go run at full speed toward something that others call a “vault” and hit it at full speed, to tumble over it and land on your back, or your knees or wherever, until you finally learn to pull off a tsukahara, not even knowing for years what that thing that the coaches called a “Tsuk” is. Wait – it’s the parents who don’t know for years what it is – most of even these young gymnasts these days know that a tsuk is a move that can be done over a vault (with difficulty). Even though the younger gymnasts do start their vaults out on a big block of foam, many of them can tell you Ms. So and So is doing her Tsuk now. Many of our gymnasts put their heart into gymnastics every day and never end up on the top of that award stand for the First Place for Individual All-Around. But when they do earn that award for the very first time, and the pride hits them and they see the pride in their parents’ eyes - then they know that this moment is just the icing on the cake.
Sweetheart Invitational Gymnastics Prayer
Father God, You created this day for gain not loss,
success not failure,
and for positive actions, not negative thoughts.
Lord, inspire these athletes with a desire for greatness
and to wisely use the gifts and talents
that You have so generously given to them;
for these are tools to be used, not treasures to be stored.
Create in these young competitors
the Right Attitude
to excel in the classroom and in life –
the attitude that says
“I can reach deeper inside myself.”
Build in them a Firm Belief in God,
themselves, their families, and their teammates,
and to have great expectations for their future.
Grace them with the Enduring Commitment
to persevere, to never quit no matter the score,
and to never give up, no matter what the odds.
Father, please protect your children
from any harm and fill them with
Courage Unquenchable and Joy Overflowing.
We ask this in Your precious name,
Amen
JoAnn Ross - Tori Hanley's Aunt, January 26, 2006