Turner,
Davis, Flores
Win National Meet
(Chicago, IL) – On the face of it,
the challenge was insurmountable. Over
4,000 gymnasts were on hand from 30 states plus Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico,
Bermuda, and New Zealand. It was confirmed
by Guinness as the “World’s Largest Invitation Gymnastics Meet”, and only a
venue as large as Chicago’s Navy Pier could accommodate the six full gyms
required to host the event.
To top it off, the Grand Traverse Bay
YMCA’s top two gymnasts, Kendra Benak and Annie Gerstner, were unable to
compete due illness.
YMCA veterans Amy Davis and Francie
Flores embraced the pressure, however, each winning gold medal all-around
awards in their respective Level 7 age divisions with identical scores of 37.4. “Amy and Francie competed against some great
gymnasts, but came out on top,” said coach Jennifer Van Deinse. “Those were great wins for both of them, but it
was Jade Turner who really had a break-out performance.”
10-year-old Turner rose to the
occasion with a 37.05 gold-medal all-around championship performance at Level
6, winning the meet by capturing the gold on vault with a score of 9.2 and beam
with a 9.55. “Jade was not intimidated
at all on this international stage,” said
Van Deinse. “She was solid on all
four events, and really earned her all-around gold.”
Altogether, the ten competing YMCA
gymnasts brought home 44 individual medals, including ten first-place gold
medals and three all-around championships.
“Those medal performances would be considered quite an accomplishment at
any meet,” added co-coach Gina Van Deinse, “but it’s especially meaningful at
the world’s largest gymnastics meet.
Still, we could have done better, and we’re going to get to work on that
right away this week.”
At Level 5 for the YMCA team, Ryan
Zrimec won 6th-place all-around with a score of 35.125, while Summer
Bennetts came in 10th-place all-around. Patricia Davis won bars with a score of 9.475,
en route to a 4th-place all-around finish at Level 7. Combined with sister Amy’s all-around gold
medal, including a first place 9.6 floor routine, and Flores’ all-around gold
medal bolstered by a 2nd-place 9.55 floor routine by Kayla Jackson,
the YMCA Level 7 team missed the all-around gold team award by only four tenths
of a point.
“We were happy the team came in 3rd-place,”
said Van Deinse. “At a meet of this
stature, any medal is phenomenal, but we’re going to work hard for that four
tenths next year to take the team gold.”
Also competing for the YMCA team were
Level 6 gymnasts Darby Drake, recording a gold medal beam routine and 5th
place all-around, and Kayla Brady, 4th place all-around in her age
division. Annemarie Jenkins placed 14th
all-around.
The next meet for the YMCA gymnasts
is the Tulip City Invitational to be held March 3 – 5 in Holland,
Michigan. For more information about
YMCA gymnastics, contact gym director Betsy Van Deinse at 929-2869 or visit www.gtbayymca.org to find meet photos and more
information.
+++
Pictures Attached, Tag lines:
All around champions: Amy Davis, Jade Turner and Francie
Flores.
Grand Traverse Bay YMCA Team.
back row left to right: Kayla Brady, Jade Turner,
Annemarie Jenkins, Summer Bennetts, Ryan Zrimec, front row left to right: Rachel
Ovalle, Patricia Davis, Francie Flores, Kendra Benak, Kayla Jackson, Annie
Gerstner, Amy Davis
