7 gymnasts from Victory Gymnastics Academy are headed to Orlando, Florida, for this week’s Countrywide Gymnastics Affiliation championships: front row from left, Reina Kawamura, Meghan Younger, Mackenzie Stamper, Alanna Mae Purnell and back again row, Adhvika Dhanya, Hayden Harper and Chelsea Jones.
Ted Schultz | The Republic
The last time Gary Stam took gymnasts from Victory Gymnastics Academy to the National Gymnastics Affiliation championships, they arrived away with an unique national title.
That was 2018, when Emily Moore, who would go on to win a higher faculty point out all-all-around title for Columbus North, won the bars and finished 3rd in the all-all over in Level 9. The 2020 nationals was canceled mainly because of COVID, and Victory opted not to go in 2019 or previous year.
This 7 days, 7 gymnasts from Victory are headed to Orlando, Florida, for the countrywide levels of competition which begins Wednesday and carries on by Saturday.
“We’re really excited to go and get nationals,” claimed Advhika Dhanya, a seventh-grader at Northside Middle Faculty. “I want to get on podium and strike all of our routines and get all 9s or increased.”
Dhanya completed second in the all-all-around competitors at the regional and will be competing in Degree 8 on Saturday.
Chelsea Jones, a senior at Elwood, is the only one of the 7 gymnasts who has been to nationals. She concluded eighth on the floor last calendar year while competing for Wright’s Gymnastics in Noblesville and aided the Area 5 workforce tie for very first in the Amount 9 crew standings.
Jones, who makes the hour-and-a-fifty percent vacation to Columbus five times a 7 days to practice, is heading to acquire a gap 12 months and be a gymnastics choose, then potentially go into acro and tumbling in faculty. She gained the Level 9 all-all-around in the regional and will compete at nationals on Saturday.
Victory’s Amount 7 workforce received the state championship with only a few ladies, which is the quantity necessary to score. They had been led by Mackenzie Stamper, who won the vault and all-all over at the two state and regional.
“It’s definitely fascinating due to the fact I have by no means been to nationals due to the fact when it arrived to the aspect of the calendar year wherever absolutely everyone would go to regional and nationals, I would generally conclude up finding injured,” reported Stamper, a sixth-grader at Rock Creek Elementary.
Reina Kawamura concluded fourth in the all-close to in the regional. Hayden Harper also concluded in the leading 10.
The Amount 7 gymnasts will compete at the nationals on Friday.
“I’m truly thrilled because I’ve hardly ever been to nationals,” said Kawamura, a seventh-grader at Northside Middle University.
“I’m stunned I built it, but I was genuinely thrilled I manufactured it,” extra Harper, a sixth-grader at Schmitt Elementary. “I’d like to hit 4 for 4 (routines) and get all 9s.”
Victory also will have two gymnasts competing in the Xcel Sliver division on Wednesday. Meghan Young gained the vault, flooring and all-all over at state, and Alanna Mae Purnell gained the bars at point out.
“I’m actually energized mainly because we get to travel and meet up with new fitness centers,” said Purnell, a second-grader at Richards Elementary.
“In the commencing, I was seriously anxious, but now, I’m truly excited due to the fact I’ve never been to nationals, and it is likely to be exciting to travel there,” extra Youthful, a fifth-grader at Southside Elementary.
Stam is the owner and system director at Victory Gymnastics Academy. Shanthi Teike is his assistant mentor.
The coaches presented to get anybody to nationals that scored at the very least a 37 in the all-around at the point out satisfy.
“We kind of designed our have guidelines,” Stam claimed. “We had a whole lot of girls that scored 37, and they just selected not to go. They experienced to rating at the very least a 34 to make it to nationals by rule, but our rule was a 37.”
This was a bounce-again yr for the club, which had noticed its quantities plummet from around 600 gymnasts to about 125 the preceding pair of several years, primarily for the reason that of the COVID pandemic. They are back up to about 500, which includes 50 that are on the competitive crew.
“We experienced a genuine successful period, which was seriously great immediately after COVID,” Stam reported. “COVID was hard on us. We thought we have been heading to have to shut, but we created it by means of.”
