Meet News at SGA...
Phew! Lots to report...
SGA's Intermediate
Rec-Op Team Takes 1st
SGA's Rec-Op Gymnasts traveled down
to Gym Elite in Tumwater, WA on Sunday to participate in their
last meet before the State Championships. The Intermediate
Rec-Op girls had a fabulous meet and took home the 1st place team
plaque. This is the first team award the Intermediate girls
have won, and we are extremely proud of them. In the 8 and
Under division, Mackenzie Runciman won 1st on Vault, Bars and
the All-Around; teammate Caroline Wagner took 2nd. In the
9 year old age division, SGA's Abigail Wagner took 1st, followed
closely behind by 2nd place Marley Cross who also took first on
Bars. In the 10 year old division, Celina Schuler took 3rd
place All Around and Sarah Hall won 1st All Around in her 11 year
old age group as well as taking 1st on Bars. All the girls
really contributed to helping SGA win the team award, CONGRATS
GIRLS! 
In Phoenix,
the 8's and 9's, 6's and two far-traveling Level 4's experienced
their first national competition this year -- and came away with
second place team in Level 8, 10lth - 13th for the Level 9's,
and 5th, 10th, and 11th for the Level 6's. Our six's (Level 4's
last year), Zoe McNeill, Wallis Boram and Area Goodvoice were
hitting 31 through 34, about .6 below the winning 34.7. -- not
far off the pace for a first-of-the-year meet. That's them to
the left!
The Level 4's, in their first out-of-state
meet were Cait McNeill (28.35 all around vs. a 37.25 winning score)
and Amalie Ratliff (33.7 / 36.7) also had the disadvantage of
competing without their team around them -- congrats to them on
persevering through a tough meet. That's them to the right.....
In the optionals, the Level 9's
ran into one of the toughes gyms int he U.S. PGA who sent three
girl
s who went 1-2-3, 36.75 - 36.475, in their session.
Nevertheless, our girls (Aileen McCarthy, Madison Kratzke, and
Stefany Bryan) went 10-11-12 with 34.275 - 35.00, quite a respectable
result. In the Level 8 session, Addie Rostomily, Brooke McKinnon,
Tess Hansen, Greta Lagerberg and Breanne Buren took second place
team with a 108.475, just behind the George All-Stars who managed
a 109.275 to win.
Our congratulations to all the girls
and thanks for a wonderful time -- even though the sun didn't
shine once in Phoenix, you gals more than made up for it!
2008
All American Invite Fun for SGA's Girls
- First Meet for the Level 4's -
This year's All-American January
26th and 27th in Auburn was a highlight for our Level 4's
(their first meet), the Level
6's (a second place award as a team and a 1st all-around), the
Level 9's (1st, 3rd, and 4th all-around) , and the Level 8's (another
1st, 3rd and 4th). It all added up to a 2nd place team at the
meet, with SGA's Stefany Bryan, Madison Kratzke, and Aileen McCarthy
contributing all four event scores for a 26.3 team score, about
1.2 points behind Auburn's 27.475.
(On the left, that's Coach Jessica
rallying the Level 4's before they go out on the floor for the
first time in a strange gym. On the right, six yer-old Maggie
Long shows what can be done on the high unevens.)
Our little girls must have been
a bit nervous when they walked into the meet but, as one put it
after the first event: "This isn't so stinky." (Stinky?)
Anyway, they went on the place third in their level with a 27.6,
behind Flight School (29.0) and Black Hills (28.8) Amalie Ratliff
posted a phenomenal 36.95 all-around to tied for first with Sydney
De Bord from Flight School. Kim Kramer with 36.3 AA, just .3 
behind VEGA's Emily Karkanen (36.6). And Madeleine
Kim put together a 35.5 which would win a lot of meets but was
third behind flight School's 37.1.
[Thanx and a tip of the hat for
the pix to Julie McNeill!! All submissions welcome....]
SGA's Level 6's came in second ini
the division with a 26.85 over-all score, just behind Grace Gymnastics'
28.3. Oddly, SGA was third in every event but AEG's big stumble
in Beam and Floor pushed them down to third with a 26.2. Wallis
Boram, Julie Huang, Maggie Long, Zoe McNeill, and Areal Goodvoice
all contributed to the team score. (That's Wallis, just to the
Left.)
We're particularly proud of the
Level 6's because most of them were Level 4's last year, so they
skipped a level to get where they are -- and still compete successfully.
In Level 8 (SGA isn't competing
Level 7 this year.), SGA's girls pretty much owned the individual
events as Tess Hansen (1st AA, 37.2, Addie Rostomily (3rd AA,
36.725), Breanne Buren (4th AA, 36.5), Brooke McKinnon (2nd AA,
36.425) and Greta Lagerberg (10th AA, 35.125) put together a team
score of 27.5, good for second against Auburn's 28.4. More of
Auburn's gymnasts (9 of them) posted sporadic high 9's, letting
them shine in the team rankings. That's Breanne below, discovering
that she's won a medal :)
Our small crew of three young Level
9's more than held their own against larger teams as Madison Kratzke
(1st AA, 36.9, Aileen McCarthy (3rd AA, 36.3) and Stefany Bryan
(4th AA, 35.55) put together a a team score of 26.3 while Auburn's
six 9's and 10's went 27.475 to take first. SGA topped Westside,
Black Hills and Flight School. This is really an amazing result,
since SGA is competing evenly with much larger teams who have
many more chances to put together a big team score.
R/O's Second at
The Big Chill!
SGA's Recreational Optional team
traveled to Bellevue January 27th to take on Gym East, VEGA, Gym
Elite, Metro, EGC, BHG, Edmunds Illusions, PGG and VGC for the
biggest meet of the year so far. Around 140 athletes competed
and SGA's crews were a consistent second to Gym East at all levels.
In Level A, SGA beat out VEGA, 43.925 to 43.5 but fell to Gym
East's 45.55. In Level 1, SGA was fourth with a 41.2 against Gym
East's 42.375.
Highlights by division included
Level A Junior A Clara Dixon's first place all-around with a 34.8
in Jr. A followed closely by Frances Andersen-Bicknell's 34.475,
good for third. In Senior A, Sarah Hall (3rd AA, 33.675) and Oingyu
Onouye (4th AA, 33.375) led SGA's crew, about a point behind Gym
East's Vanessa Xu's 34.65.
In Junior B, Tani Hayashi led SGA
with a 3rd All-Around and a 34.7, about a point behind the winning
35.725. Level A, Sr. A Lancy Huang was second all-around with
an astronomical 35.25, just .25 away from winning the whole thing.
We need some pix from the R/O folks!
Hey, Parents!! How about some help here????
SGA Optionals Open Season Strongly
Led by coaches Amy Linhardt and Hamlet Manucharyan,
SGA's Level's 8 & 9 won their first meet of the season, taking
first place against NASA, Naydenov, and Black Hills. Every single
gymnast qualified for the state championships in their first meet.
The Level 9's went 1 - 2 - 3 in
the all-around (Madison, Aileen and Stefany) while Madison won
every event and the all-around. Scoring was tight: most scores
were in the 8's. Brooke won first-place all-around in level 8,
closely pursued by three NASA gymnasts. This meet was especially
impressive for two level 8's: "Great Job!" to Greta
Lagerberg and Breanne Buren who skipped level seven and are becoming
wonderful level 8's.
Reindeer Round-Off
Brings Home First Place for SGA's Recreational Optionals
Many girls were away on holiday
January 6th, but that didn't stop 23 of SGA's Rec-Op competitors
from traveling down to Vancouver, WA for their second meet.
The intermediate gymnasts started
the day out with some tough competition. However, SGA's
Peyton Colee and Marley Cross took home 2nd and 3rd All Around
in their age division, followed closely by Megan Ruppel from SGA
who took 4th place. Marley also won first on Bars with a
9.65. In the 8 and under age division, Elena Fowler had
a wonderful meet, winning Beam and getting 4th All Around. For
the 11 year olds, Sarah Hall did an awesome job posting a second
place All Around score.
The afternoon brought the Advanced gymnasts onto the floor, and
SGA had a great meet, with the girls bringing home the First Place
Team award. Tani Hayashi won the Floor Exercise with a score
of 9.5, Maria Acheson won the Vault with a 9.35, Clara Dixon took
first place on Bars with a 9.7 and Rachael Ueda won Beam with
a 9.425. A consistent performance from Lancy Huang allowed
her to win second place All Around.
All the girls did a wonderful job and we can't wait to see you
at our next meet on January 27th at Gymnastics East.
Click above to download
the entire Excel scoresheet...
League Teams Finish Strong!
The Fall 2007 League competition season
has just ended. A round of applause goes out to all gymnasts who
competed this season, had a great time and did an excellent job!
The Championship Meet was held December 1st at Sky Valley Gymnastics
Academy and SGA had one A team, one AA team and two AAA teams
competing. Congratulations to Claire, Mirah, Grace, Noah, Isa,
Gracie, Ashleigh and Sophia from the SGA Blue Angels for winning
1st place in the A division. Congrats also to SGA's Blue Stars,
consisting of Ella, Claire, Rachel, Sophie, Abby and Julia for
taking 2nd place at Championships. In the AAA 
division,
first place was won by .05! The first place team being SGA's Slammin'
Jammin' Tsunamis consisting of Shannon, Alex, Anya, Caroline and
Nicola and a score of 151.85. 2nd place went to SGA's Athletic
Ostrich's consisting of Amelia, Jessamyn, Natasha and Morgan and
a score of 151.8. Way to go to all our athletes this season! Practice
hard this winter and we can't wait to see you all when competitions
begin again in the Spring!
If you have any questions about our League Gymnastics Program
for recreational gymnasts, please inquire at the front desk or
call Keala Hopps, League Director, at 206-362-7447, ext. 112.
Any gymnast ages 5 and up in recreational levels 1 
through
6 are invited and encouraged to join this great program!
This Just In... 10/31/07
In League action the first week
of November, the AAA Athletic Ostrichs now lead
the Slammin' Jammin' Tsunamis 448.1 to 441.9 while
the AA Elites lead Blue Stars 343
to 341.8. Right now the Blue Neck Cobras (337.4)
and Seattle Stars (260.4) trail but swear to make
comebacks. In a tight A Division race, the Blue Angels
are on top with 499.4, following by the Sweet Shushnovas
(498), the Sparkling Flowers (489.1) and the Fly
Aways (483.9).
2006-2007
Rec-Optional Girls
Take Second at State!
May 20th at Gymnastics East in Factoria was the final
showdown of the year for the Preparatory Optional competitors
and they came through with a team score of 179.225 to ace out
Metro Gymnastics (178.025) but fall short of Gym Easts' 182.725.
In the process SGA was firsst in vault, second on Bars and Floor
and third on beam.
Mary Campbell and Molly Barnes led the SGA team contriburting
all four of their scores to the team score and hitting consistently
in the 8.8 - 9.4 range. Lisa HIrata was next contributing bars,
beam and floor scores in the 8.,8 - 9.0 range. Tani Hayashi and
Clara Dixon both hit twice, clara with two strong 9.1's. Lancy
Huang, Britta Swedin, Kathleen Atterbury and Clara Sutton all
contributed events scores to the final team score.
The coaches thought this was a fairly spectacular result
since not one of SGA's girls had been former Junior Olympic competitors
while all of Gym Easts' girls were. Congratulations to Donna Hill,
Patty Steele-Smith, and Adriane Stewart on a great year and here's
to a great party June 22nd for the whole team!
Level 7's Win State!!!
Ace Out Leading Edge on the Last Event!
Talk about pressure! The last gymnast
of the last session of the last day at 9:55 PM and there is SGA's
Tess Hansen on the floor by herself! Tess came up big and contributed
to SGA's total of114.625 to beat out second place Leading Edge's
114.525 for the state championship by .1 point on April 1st at
Auburn Gymnastics Center.
Jazzie Kellough had set up Tess
on the event by going just before her and scoring a 9.475 forcing
the judges to go one better if Tess hit her routine. This tactic,
which coaches use routinely in their lineups, worked like a charm
this time as Tess is one of the most beautiful gymnasts you'll
ever see on floor. She hit her routine perfectly giving the judges
practically nothing to deduct.
Tess' routine was the high-tension
point but super-strong all-around performances by Sydney Matsuda-Fong,
Jazzie Kellough, and Addie Rostomilly put SGA in a position to
win. Jazzie's 38.25 all-around and Sydney's 38.125 all around
both contributed all four of their event scores to the team score.
Those plus Addie's huge routines on Vault, Bars and Beam put SGA
first on Floor and Beam, 2nd on Bars, and 3rd on Vault. The meet
was so competitive that Brooke McKinnon's 37.3 and Kelsey Tyas'
36.575, usually high enough to count, were not high enough to
be used in the team score! In the end, both Leading Edge and SGA
were 3.5 points ahead of the other gyms.
Individual event wins were posted
throughout the meet. Jazzie, Addie and Tess went 3,4,6 in the
all-around scores as Jazzie won Beam with a 9.5 and Addie took
second. For her part, Tess's winning floor routine was good for
second place on floor. Meanwhile, in her session Sydney went 9.55,
9.6, 9.575 and 9.4 for a 38.125 all-around, a first place on beam,
and a second on floor!
All six girls' scores were needed
to push the judges into winning territory so this was a huge team
effort. Congratulations, ladies!
9's Fifth Place
Team at State! Kuniyoshi First!
Linton Wins Judges' Honors.
Kristen Kuiyoshi took first place
among seniors and SGA's first-year Level 9's put together a fifth
among all the state's teams while Kristen Linton won the judge's
Artistry Award for BOTH floor and beam at the 2007 State Championships
at Auburn Gymnastics March 30th - April st.
"Kristen K" continued
a super-strong year with a 36.725 all-around and first on beam,
suffering only a slight setback on her usually strong vault with
an 8.875. SGA's true stalwart was Stefany Bryan who went 9.125
(V), 8.7 (Bars), 9.15 (Beam) and 9.275 (floor) to contribute all
four of her event scores to the team's 109.55 total, about four
points behind Leading Edge's winning 113.575. Contributing three
scores each were Madison Kratske (36.175 A/A) and Aileen McCartney
(35.85 A/A).
At this meet, the judges typically
make an award for artristry to encourage the beuty of the sport
over the "tricks' of the sport and "Kristen L",
competing with an injured shoulder, took both of these awards.
Kristen's long lines, striking athleticism, and fluid motions
are compelling on all events, so we think the awards are well-deserved.
Despite the shoulder, Kristen was able to compete all four events,
too, posting a not-too-shabby 36.525, good for 7th..
The Level 9's are a young team and
a small, four-gymnast team so we're impressed that they did this
well this year. Congratulations to all!
Level 4's Fourth,
Level 5' & 6's Fifth at Bunny Hop Invitational
Greta Lagerberg led SGA's Level
6 crew, still decimated by colds and pneumonia (let's just say,
it's not their year...), to a good-looking fifth place finish
at this year's Bunny Hop at Metropolitan Gymnastics March 24th.
Greta's work counted for the team score on all four events as
she powered to a 35.75 helping Area Good Voice, Mary Catherine
Medaris, Maria Acheson and Breanne Buren build a team score of
103.875. This was some five points under the 109+ needed to beat
Gym Express, Grace gymnastics, or Leading Edge (Bellingham) and
an astounding 7.5 points under the winning 111.5 posted by Leading
Edge (Everett). That said, we posted good scores on every event,
but beam where we even dipped into the 7's once and everything
else was in the 8's.
For the 5's, only Zoe McNeill hit
on all four events posting a 34.875 as the Julie Huang, Frances
Andersen-Bicken, Wallis Boram, Audrey Hanger and Margaret Long
put together a 104.85 which turned out not to be enough to contest
109's from Grace, Crystals, aGym Express. Leading Edge took the
meet with a 113.4 posting not a single team score less than 9.15,
quite an accomplishment in itself. SGA was strongest on bars and
beam, generally hitting in the 9.0 - 9.4 range but floor and vault
punished our 5's in this meet.
Meanwhile, Katie DeCourcy and Maggie
Kerner were the "old reliables" for the Level 4's as
they went 35.6 and 34.85, respectively, to help SGA build a 106.45
team score. This time, the top score was a 111.8 by Gym Express
followed by Falcon's 111 and Puget Sound's 108.95. Beam was the
event that undid SGA as all our scores wee in the 8.5 - 8.9 range
while winning scores were in the 9.1 - 9.3 range. For some reason,
the judges want you to stay on that thing!
The compulsory seasons are winding
to a close and the state meet will be next week so crunch time
is near. Stay tuned for immediate results as they come in!
MSO Selects It's Top Ten U.S. Competitive
Clubs
Meet Scores Online (and the industries
"movers and shakers") recently selected its top ten
gym teams to watch and the list is instructive because, while
it contains some perennials, there are also a number of up-and-comers
(indicated below with an "*"). Here's the list:
Brestyan's American Gymnastics,
Ashland, MA*
Aerial Gymnastics, Downers Grove IL*
Tampa Bay Turners, Tampa Bay, FL
Hill's Gymnastics, Gaithersburg, MD
Berks Gymnastics, Reading, PA
Gemini Gymnastics, Pittsburgh, PA*
Cincinnati Gymnastics, Cincinnati, OH
Texas Dream, Coppell, TX* [owned by Kim Zmeskal]
Salto Gymnastics, Waukesha, WI
Rohnert Park Gymnastics, Rohnert Park CA* [north of San Francisco]
This list, and a little demographic
data, outline what it takes for a program (as opposed to an individual
gymnast) to excel: a large population and an affluent population.
Thinking closer to home, Seattle and Bellevue have these attributes.
With consistent work, good facilities, active recruitment, professional
coaching, and community support, the Northwest and Region II could
enter the national level of competition
Boys Team Wraps up 2007 Season
at State Championships
The SGA Boys Team finished up their season
with some great performances at the Washington State Championships
held March 17th and 18th in Tacoma, WA.
The Level 4's competed Saturday morning
and afternoon, posting their best combined-team total of 164.00
an average event score of 9.16! However, even their best
score of the year was not enough to keep up with the Level 4 Champs
Naydenov Gymnastics, whose score of 168.55 (9.36 Average)
was too much to top. The SGA Boys took home sixth place
a great achievement considering the level of competition!
Individually, the boys all were above or
right at their seasons' best all-around scores. In the HOTLY competitive
8-9 Age group, Quinn Damon scored an SGA record all-around score
of 55.9 good enough for 6th Place. Teammates Evan Hrachovec
and Gabe Sands scored 54.1 and 53.3 respectively (both season
highs) to place 16th and 17th all-around. Nicholas McCullogh
scored a 51.7 to place 26th overall. Spencer Cunningham scored
50.3 in the 10-11 Division to place 12th overall, and Sammy Maxwell
scored 44.9 (6-7 Age-group) in his first State Championships
good enough for 32nd All-Around.
Patrick Fillingham and Martin Horst competed
in the Level 6 competition on Sunday afternoon. Martin started
off strong, but two mediocre scores dashed his hopes of qualifying
to the regional championships in Boise, ID. Martin's State Meet
highlights were a 5th Place finish on the Floor Exercise, and
a 9.175 on the Vault.
Patrick had his best meet of the year at the right time
finishing with a 50.8 all-around, to place 2nd all-around. Patrick
also added individual titles on the High Bar (8.5) and the Vault
setting an SGA Event-record of 9.90 in the process!Next
up for Patrick are the Regional Championships in Boise on April
14th and 15th.
All in all, it was a great season
of competition for the boys one that will help to springboard
the Boys team to new levels and new heights in 2008. Congratulations
on a great year, Guys!
SGA Stopped at 2007 Emerald City
Classic
SGA's girls, decimated by pink eye,
colds and pneumonia still managed to put together gritty performances
at this year's Emerald City Classic in Eugene March 10th and 11th.
One level was missing too many gymnasts to compete as a team,
but the remaining girls (despite missing many practices) did great!
In Level 4, Maggie Kerner lead SGA
with a 35.95 all-around, good for second among all age divisions.
She was followed closely by Corinne Guay and Katie deCourcy with
35.5's taking fourth and fifth in the meet among non-team gymnasts.
Winning all-arounds ran in the 37's and 38's in the team competition,
so the state meet could be tough for us!
In Level 5, SGA did have enough
for a team (Zoe, Frances, Delaney, Wallis, Margaret and Audrey)
but not enough oomph to place as the team totaled just 106.975
vs. Leading Edge's winning 115.65. They had taken all the top
places the week before, but Eugene was a tougher venue. Level
5 is going to be a very hot level at the state meet since all
but one of the winning teams (Central Oregon, being the exception)
were from Washington.
Similarly, our healthy level 6's
(Areal, Mary Catherine, Greta, Maria and Breanne), who had gone
1 through 5 the previous week at our Northern Star Invitational,
ran into a buzz-saw of competition while posting a 106.575 team
score against a winning score (Leading Edge again) of 114.175.
Even the usually steady Level 7's (Brooke, Tess, Jazzie, and Addie)
winced in Oregon, going 113.425, good for fifth and falling to
just three Leading Edge Level 7's who put together a 114.55.
[Interested in back meet reports?
Click on "News at SGA"
on the left of this page and scroll down to "Old News."]
SGA R/O's Take Top Spots at Lucky
Charm
.jpg)
A record 107 Rec/Op gymnasts showed
up for the Lucky Charm Invitational March 4th but SGA's girls
found out that the rapidly growing program is also rapidly growing
in skills! Despite the huge increase in competition, Lancy Huang,
Mariah Jameyson, Maureen Sturgeon, Whitney Sharp, Molly Barnes,
and Mary Elizabeth Campbell all won or placed in their divisions.
To boot, Clara Dixon took fourth
in the 9 and under group while Sierra Reid did the same in the
11 year-olds, Tani Hayashi was fourth in the intermediate 10 year-olds,
with Britta Swedin and Emma Hunter 4th and 5th in the intermediate
12's.
All these girls competed all-around,
which is a deliberate choice in recreational / optional competition
-- one of the appealing features of this competitive league. Another
neat thing in this meet was the crowd noise -- every session was
full of friends and parents whooping it up, as you can see from
the picture above. Our meet format puts the crowd in the middle
of the action and the nearly 600 guests showed us they appreciated
it.
Incidentally, if you would like to see a
full-out gymnastics training center, you can visit the Glade observation
rooms (12737 28th Ave NE) from 12 noon to 8 PM any day of the
week.
Boys Use Rose City to Tune Up for
State Meet
SGA's Boys team journeyed to Portland
March 2nd - 4th to take on over 900 gymnasts from all over Region
2 -- Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Alaska -- at the Rose
City Challange and emerged ready for the heavy competition expected
at State.
In their final tune-up before the
state meet, the Level 6's showed improvement. Patrick Fillingham
(13) improved on his past performances on high bar and parallel
bars to score a 49.9 all-around -- good for sixth place. Martin
Horst bounced back from a thumb injury that has keep him sidelined
with great performances on floor and vault. The time away was
apparent, though, as his apparatus scores were lower than at previous
meets. Martin scored 42.3 all-around and took 19th.
The Level 4 boys showed that they
are ready for the State Championships on March 17th, but the Challenge
proved that winningg a state title will be no easy task. The Level
4 competition was divided among three separate sessions -- each
one more competitive than the last!
Leading the way for the SGA Boys
was Quinn Damon, who scored an SGArecord 55.6 all-around to place
1st among 8-9 year olds in his session. Right on his heels were
teammates Evan Hrachovec (53.9) and Gabe Sands (53.5) -- who placed
third and fourth in the same age-division. Rounding out the field
for the 8-9 year-olds was Nicholas McCullogh (52.1) - placing
seventh all-around.
The Level 4 team placed second overall
in their session but, comparing other sessions, Coac John Shiveley
said, "We were really fourth for the entire meet. And, since
three of those higher-scoring teams are from Washington, it's
clear that we have our work cut out for us! Overall, though, it
was a great competition and should be a great tune-up for the
state championships."
7's Third at Long Beach Open!
SGA's Level 7's battled through
flu and even pneumonia to take third at this year's Long Beach
Open February 17th at the Long Beach Convention Center south of
Los Angeles. In very consistent performnances, the girls went
4 - 10 in their age group to give them a team score of 11.275,
.8 behind second place Club Champion and three points behind winner
Gym Max (from Costa Mesa) who were, not coincidentally, last year's
Southern California State Champions.
Tess Hansen led the 7's with a 37.125
all-around (for fourth) followed by Jazzy's 37.025, Brooke's 36.775,
Addie's 36.45 and Sydney's 36.275. The top all around was Gym
Max's Angela Tomita with a 38.225 followed by a two 37's n the
second and third place slots. Tough competition!!!
The upper level girls struggled
with tough judging and strong competition. Winning all-arounds
were in the low to mid 36's while SGA's crew hit 34's. Kristen
Linton took second on beam with a 9.35, Stefany Clark was fourth
all-around with a 34.05 and Kristen Kuniyoshi fifth with a 34.725.
This will be SGA's only exposure
to Region 1 competition this year but it's worth noting that a
strong Region II team can be recognized there. Our goal is to
put our girls in the top three teams when we compete and we're
just starting to do that consistently. Incidentally, this isn't
the toughest competition in the JO club program in America. For
a list of top clubs and where they are, see "News at SGA"
on the left.
4's Rebound at PNI
SGA's Level 4's, after a tough meet
at Auburn two weeks ago, rebounded at a very tough competion:
the Pacific Norhwest Invitational at Puget Sound School of Gymnastics.
Maggie Kerner took first all-around with a 36.5, acing out three
PSSG girls who hit 36.1 to 36.4. Way to go Maggie!
Level 5's ran nto a buzz-saw of
competition from Olympic and Gold Star gymnastics programs, pushing
them down to the twenties but the Level 6's -- Mary Catherine
Mederis, Greta Lagerberg, Breanne Buren and Areal Good voice --
went 2, 3, 4, and 5 all-around with scores ranging from 35.5 to
34.25. Kennedy Richmond of PSSG took first with a 36.45 but our
four girls' strong showing gave their team first place.
The Level 7's ran into their strongest
competitior in he region -- Leading Edge -- and came out second
by one point, 115 to 114 and second in all four events despite
Brooke's and Addie's first all-around, Sydney's 36.15 all-around
(second all-around) while Addie, Tess and Jazzie went 1-2 3 in
their division. So, despite being nearly perfect, Leading Edge's
uncontested (by us) senior and junior division wins gave them
the team title. Such is life for the young, small teams.
Shiveley Gets New Floor
Ex Area
Shiveley Gymnasium (the one at 12535
26th Ave NE), got a critical upgrade Monday, January 29th, when
all the old carpeting and foam was taken out and replaced with
new carpet-bonded foam. The result is a much smoother surface
with more consistent rebound qualities, not to mention safer edges.
Where is this marvel, you ask? Right in front of you when you
sit in the bleachers.
Speaking of bleachers, we have FINALLY found a replacement for
the 20-year old bleachers so many parents know all too well. While
in Hawaii for the Gymfest, the gym manager showed us a completely
sealed set of bleachers with no holes which can swallow children,
clothes, laptops and all the other paraphenalia of modern life.
We are now Froogling daily to find a good deal on these babies.
Stand by for some comfort!
As you all know, having suffered through the lobby remodel, the
public areas are almost done. That leaves the greatest challenge
of all: the bathrooms. They are scheduled now for a complete redo
during the Winter Break which runs from February 12-17th. Pray
for us! It'll be a hectic week as Matt and John and Gene Johnson
Plumbing try to stuff it all in in six days.
Ouch! Competing at Auburn is Tough!
SGA's 6,'s, 7's and 9's did their
usual sterling job at the 2007 All-American Invitational January
26th - 28th but our little gals discovered it's a cold cruel world
out there in the Level 4 and 5 ranks when they finished fourth
and seventh respectively.
The good news was that the Level
7's won another meet with a 113.5 team score to top Auburn's 112.8.
Just about everyone contributed a score as the team went first
in vault, bars, and beam with a second in floor.
In Level 9, Kristen Kuniyoshi continued
her strong year with a 35.5 all-around, good for third behind
two Auburn gymnasts, Latia Smiley and Chailee Friant. Madison
Kratzke and Stefany Bran went 7-8 with all-arounds close to 35.0
while Aileen McCartney and Stephanie Clark contributed 34's as
the 9's took second with 107.65, about two points off Auburn's
winning 109.7. Noteworthy was injured gymnast Kristen Linton's
first on beam with a 9.475. Linton earlier injured her shoulder
and now competes only beam and floor.
Right close to the 9's was our Level
6 crew which also took second with a team score of 107.4, topping
Cascade Elite by .05! This crew was led by Brenne Buren's first
on bars and first all-around (36.35). A small team, the 6's all
had to contribute to the team score and Mary Catherine Mederis
(35.0), Area Goodvoice (34.5), Greta Lagerburg (34.7), and Brenne
did just that. A special congratulations to the Level 6's!
By way of explanation, SGA often
competes with teams fielding 10 - 25 gymnasts per level, against
our four to six girls. Believe it or not, this is a strategic
decision by the coaches to select and train a small number of
top competitors but it means that everyone has to hit if SGA is
to be in the top three teams.
SGA ROCKS AT ALOHA GYM FEST
SGA'S 4'S, 5'S, 6'S, 7'S AND AND 9's not
only held their own against international competition at the 32nd
annual Aloha Gymfest in Oahu January 12 - 14th, they excelled.
Kristen Kuniyoshi placed first all-around in her division with
a 36.45, topping three girls from Japan's Tsurumi Club and Kelsey
Davis from Naydenov in Vancouver. Stephanie Clark was fifth all-around
in her division behind three girls from Surrey, Australia while
Kristen Linton placed third in beam and fourth in floor.
In the toughest division there, Madison
Kratzke took second all-around and first on floor, finishing with
a 35.7 while Stefany Bryan was the only American to break into
the standings in her age group --- and that while not competing
beam!
Amongst the Level 7's, Jazzie and Addie
went 1 -2 in the all-around with 37.375 and 37.125 respectively
while Tess Hansen was fourth all-around with a 36.9. As the only
SGA entrant in the Level 7 12 year-olds, Kelsey Tyas had to compete
by herself in a solo session, but turned in a 36.925 with a first
on beam, even though she was absolutely robbed on her vault score!
Brooke McKinnon topped all scorers with 37.75 all-around and first
place in her division followed closely by Sydney Matsuda-Fong
with 36.975.
Sadly, SGA's top gymnast, Kristen Linton,
recently had an MRI which revealed that the long-time soreness
in her shoulder is an actual tear which will prevent her from
competing on the bars and vault. Kristen will finish out the season
competing on beam and floor. Good luck, Kristen!
Level
7's Lead State Team to Fourth
at National Judges Cup
(Front, L to R) SGA's
Jazzy Kellough, Addie Rostomily and Brooke McKinnon form
half the state Level 7 team. Leading Edge's Jordan Widener, JHeia
Villacis and Cassie
Charawell are in red in the background.
Three of SGA's Level 7's -- Jazzy
Kellough, Addie Rostomily, and Brooke McKinnon -- led the Washington
State team in Indianapolis, January 5th through 7th by posting
4th, 6th and 8th place all-arounds in their age groups as the
state team took 4th overall out of 17 teams. Only Leading Edge's
Jordan Widener scored higher than SGA's girls with a 37.675 vs.
Brooke's 37.35.
Washington State, overall, hit a
46.2 with Jazzie, Brook and Jordan contributing all four of their
event scores to the team's score. Texas was the winning team with
a 47.7, followed by Northern California (47.4) and Louisiana (46.3).
This was our girls' second meet
of the season and only coach Hamlet Manucharyan traveled with
them so they were really on their own at the center of USA's gymnastics
universe. Congratuations to the all three girls and, indeed, the
whole level 7 program which will open its formal season in Hawaii,
January 12th, at the Aloha Gymfest in Oahu.
For meet information, go to www.judgescup.com.
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Last update 5/2/07 TD