Friday, February 12, 2010
GYMNASTICS INFORMATION, CONTACT: Betsy Van Deinse, Gymnastics director, YMCA Gymnastics Center, 1100 Woodmere, Suite A, Traverse City, MI 49686 (231) 929-2869
tvd@gtbayymca.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
3, 2, 1…YMCA Gymnasts Win ‘Totally Rad’!
(Kalamazoo, MI) In just their third meet of the season, the Level 6 Grand Traverse Bay YMCA Gymnastics team won Kalamazoo’s “Totally Rad” competition last weekend, which featured 30 teams and over 650 gymnasts from throughout Michigan.
Coach Gina Van Deinse couldn’t be more proud of the girls’ progress, “We took 3rd at Twistars [Lansing, MI] in our first meet, improved to 2nd place at Splitz [Canton, MI], and it feels great to come home with a 1st place trophy this week!” Co-coach and sister Jennifer Van Deinse added, “And every one of our girls placed in the All Around scoring in their age division, including two first place All Around finishes [Francie Flores and Patricia Davis].”
The YMCA girls team won every event to claim the team All Around gold medal “going away”. Individual first place champions included Annie Gerstner and Kayla Jackson, who have each taken first place on Vault at each of the three meets this season. Gerstner and Suha Augenstein each took first place on Bars with scores of 9.15. Kayla Jackson and Francie Flores took first place on Beam in their respective divisions, and Patricia Davis’ 9.325 Floor routine won her a first place medal.
“I know I said it before, but I’ll say it again,” commented Jennifer Van Deinse. “Our team is very deep, and at any given meet any one of the girls might step up to win us the gold. But next weekend we’re really going to need everyone to step up.”
Why next weekend? The next meet for the YMCA team is the “Chicago Style” meet at Navy Pier, confirmed last year by the Guiness Book of World Records as the largest invitational gymnastics meet in the world. “Our girls are peaking at just the right time for Navy Pier,” explained Coach Jennifer, “so we’re ready to compete on this international stage.” With the way the team has improved over the past three meets, don’t count them out.
For more information about Y Gymnastics, call Betsy at 929-2869, stop in to the Y Gymnastics facility at 1100 Woodmere, Suite A, or visit the YMCA website at www.gtbayymca.org.
