Davis, Jackson Win “On the Grand”
(Pictures added to bottom of article.)
The YMCA Level 6, 7, and 8 gymnastics teams competed at the Grand Rapids Gymnastics “On the Grand” Meet at DeVos Place this past weekend and came away with nine first place gold medals, including all-around gold medals for Patricia Davis and Kayla Jackson.
The YMCA Level 6, 7, and 8 gymnastics teams competed at the Grand Rapids Gymnastics “On the Grand” Meet at DeVos Place this past weekend and came away with nine first place gold medals, including all-around gold medals for Patricia Davis and Kayla Jackson.
“It was a good meet for us to see where our strengths and our weaknesses are,” said coach Jennifer Van Deinse, “especially since so many of the girls are competing at a higher level this year.”
Patricia Davis won her level 7 all-around championship by placing 1st on beam, and 2nd on bars, vault, and floor, en route to a meet-high score of 37.3. Twin sister Amy Davis placed 2nd on beam, 3rd on bars, and 4th on floor and vault to place 2nd all-around with a score of 36.425. With a 4th place all-around finish by Francie Flores, including a gold medal 9.4 floor routine, and a 7th place all-around finish by Rachel Ovalle, the YMCA girls secured 2nd place in the level 7 team scoring.
“Patricia and Amy have beautiful lines,” commented coach Betsy Van Deinse. “It’s no surprise they took 1st and 2nd all-around. They’re both such strong competitors.”
Kayla Jackson won the “Xcel platinum” division, with an all-around score of 36.275 by placing 1st on vault, beam, and floor, while landing in 8th place on bars. “Kayla had a great meet,” said coach Jennifer Van Deinse, adding, “As she continues to improve her bars, she’s going to be tough to beat this year.” Olivia Flores also competed for the Y Xcel team, turning in a 6th place all-around performance.
Jade Turner led the Y’s level 6 team with a 2nd place all-around score of 35.350, including a 9.25 beam routine. The level 6 team also captured 3rd, 5th, and 10th place individual all-around medals with strong performances by Darby Drake (1st place vault), Kayla Brady, and Annemarie Jenkins.
Competing in their first year at level 8, Annie Gerstner and Kendra Benak won 2nd and 4th place all-around honors. Benak took 2nd on floor and 3rd on beam, while Gerstner’s 1st place gold medal vault qualified her for the individual event championships held Sunday, where she placed 2nd among all individual champion competitors. “Annie continues to dominate the state on vault,” commented coach Gina Van Deinse, “despite the fact that this is her first year at level 8. We’re so proud of her, and all the girls.”
With 26 level 3 – 5 gymnasts, the Grand Traverse Bay YMCA also brought one of the state’s largest “fun meet” teams to Grand Rapids. Competing at the event were Amanda Sweeney, Olyvia Galton, Hadley Hilner, Erin Evans, Dahlia Evans, Jordyn Fortier, Julia Tabaczka, Seryna Javin, Malorie Hood, Sophia Thompson, Ciarra Reicha, Maddie Bies, Aiden Warren, Kora Voss, Norah Galton, Emily Laferriere, Tabitha Fouch, Meredith Gallagher, Ava Wendel, Ella Wendel, Haley McClellen, Elzaya Williams, Avery Wisniewski, Allie Corpus, Xue Ferguson, and Samantha Berta.
The next meet for the YMCA gymnasts is the Twistars Invitational to be held January 6 – 8 in Lansing.
For more information about Y Gymnastics contact Betsy Van Deinse at 929-2869 or visit www.gtbayymca.org.
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Level 6's: Annemarie Jenkins, Kayla Brady, Darby Drake and Jade Turner |
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Level 7's: Francie Flores, Rachel Ovalle, Patricia Davis and Amy Davis |
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Level 8's: Annie Gerstner and Kendra Benak |
