ROSE CITY CLASSIC (Yellow Rose of Texas???)
The Jacksonville Gymnastics Optionals, Levels Seven, Eight and Nine, attended the Rose City Classic Gymnastics Invitational hosted by Texas East Gymnastics Booster Club and held at the University of Texas at Tyler, Texas. The Jacksonville Optionals Team was one of 34 teams attending the meet, Levels Two through Ten. Attending teams were from Texas, Louisiana and the home team from Arkansas.
Kayla Edgin, Level Nine gymnast from Jacksonville Gymnastics competed in the Saturday Level Nine Competition with 64 gymnasts from eighteen teams. Kayla placed fourth on bars in her age group. Competition at this meet was just as tough as when our gymnasts attended Regional Competition last year in Texas.
Kayla poses here after her Saturday competition in the Rose City Classic Gymnastics Invitational held at the University of Texas at Tyler, Texas. Kayla was the only gymnast from Arkansas in this session and competed without her teammates, as this session was for Level Nine gymnasts only.
Sunday morning, at 8:00 a.m., forty-five Level Seven gymnasts from fourteen teams competed. The Level Seven gymnasts from Jacksonville Gymnastics were Taylor Butler, Kimmie Edwards, Samantha Gray, Alyson Ferren, Kelsy Founds and Tori Spears. Taylor tied for third on vault and placed fourth on beam and with a 36.175 placed fifth in her age bracket. Samantha Gray placed sixth on bars. Alyson Ferren tied for third on vault, placed second on bars and fourth on beam for a third overall. Tori Spears placed second on beam and fourth on floor.
The team placed Fifth for Team Awards.
Jacksonville Gymnastics Level Seven Gymnasts after competing and winning the Fifth-Place Team Trophy. From left to right are Samantha Gray, Taylor Butler, Kimmie Edwards, Kelsy Founds, Tori Spears and Alyson Ferren.
Sixty-five Level Eight gymnasts from 23 teams competed in the Sunday noon competition, including five of the Jacksonville Gymnastics team members. The Jacksonville gymnasts were in different age divisions. Those competing were Courtney Ellis, Sissy Ghormley, Tori Hanley, Taylor Rai Johnson and Sarah McAlister. Courtney placed fourth with a 9.225 on vault and sixth on bars with a 9.25. Tori Hanley placed fourth on bars with a 9.325 and second on beam with a 9.5. Tori placed third all-around with a 37.05. Taylor Rai placed third on vault with a 9.2 and fifth on beam with a 9.0 and placed fourth all-around with a 36.35. Sarah McAlister placed first on vault with a 9.5, third on bars with a 9.350, and first on beam with a 9.4. Sarah placed first all-around for her age bracket with a 37.3.
Level Eight gymnasts pose after competing against Texas and Louisiana Level Eight gymnasts. Jacksonville Gymnastics was the only team to represent Arkansas. From left to right are Sarah McAlister, Taylor Rai Johnson, Courtney Ellis, Sissy Ghormley and Tori Hanley. The gymnasts proudly represented Jacksonville Gymnastics and Sarah won First-Place All-Around.
We were very proud of all of our gymnasts. The Jacksonville levels were all several points below their normal scores, but they still competed very well against the toughest competition yet. Our gymnasts only work out between twelve to fifteen hours a week and they were competing against gymnasts who train up to 30 hours a week.
The next meet for Level Four gymnasts is the State Fun Meet that is being held at Flame Gymnastics at Fort Smith. That meet will be held this weekend, Saturday, March 15. The State Meet for Levels Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine and Ten will be held March 29th at the Pine Bluff Convention Center.
This Rose City Classic meet was an opportunity for us to watch a number of Level Ten gymnasts. We have only two Level Ten gymnasts in Arkansas; but there were 42 Level Ten gymnasts from Texas competing in the Saturday evening competition. There were several gymnasts competing who had already been offered scholarships to various universities and it was a treat to be able to watch the Level Ten gymnasts compete.