Lakewood gymnasts tumble their way to the top

Posted: Friday, February 18, 2011 11:16 am

Lakewood gymnasts can now show off two more first-place trophies.
Based in Martin, the  competitors from Lakewood Gymnastics recently vied in the UAGL Championship meet held in Paducah, Ky. At the competition, Lakewood teams earned two first-place trophies. The level 3 team and the pre-optional gold division team both finished at the top of their standings.
In addition to the first-place winners, Lakewood’s level 4 squad finished in second place and the level 5 team finished in fourth.
The top three scores by team members of each event determine a team score.
The Level 3 team had several members earn first-place finishes to help propel their squad to the top. Lakewood representatives receiving first-place scores were: Taylor Davis, beam, 9.1; Jaci Traverse, vault, 7.3 and floor, 8.6; and McKenna Thrower, bars, 7.6.
Also getting high scores on their events for their age group to help the team claim the top trophy were Isabella Knox, floor, 9.0; Elizabeth Jones, beam, 8.8; Eva Marie Pruitt, floor, 8.5; and Mary Beth Buchannan, beam, 8.55. With the exception of Davis and Knox, the other local level 3 gymnasts were all competing for the first time this year.
In the prep-optional gold division, Julie Allen, competing in the 10-11 age division, had her best meet with a first in vault (9.35), floor (9.2) and all-around (36.25).
Taylor Bowling was first on beam with a 9.35, while Bridget Bradberry won on the bars with a 9.3.
Loral Winn, who was moved up in the middle of the season from level 5 to optional, had a high score of 9.3 on beam, good enough for second place.
In the 12-and-older division, Gwyneth Ridley captured first on every event to bring home five first-place awards. Ridley scores were vault – 9.45, bars – 9.0, beam – 9.05, floor – 9.15 and her all-around – 36.65.
Bradberry, Ridley and Allen were all competing at this level for the first time.
In the level 8 division, Madison Graves performed well enough to earn four first-place finishes. Graves’ top efforts included an 8.3 on the bars, a 9.35 on the beam and a 9.3 on the floor. This is also Graves’ first year to compete as a level 8 gymnast.
All of the optional gymnasts have qualifed for their AAU District Championship meet and their state meet, to be held in March and April.
Lakewood only had four level 4 competitors. Helping the squad to its second-place finish was Mia Amberg with four first-place performances. In her age group, she finished first on vault (9.3), bars (7.85), floor (9.2) and won the all-around with a score of 35.3.
Lexi Culver had a pair of first-place finishes in her age group. Culver topped the podium in vault (8.8) and bars (8.5).
Jessica Narr, competing for the first time this year, had her best performance in receiving second-place consideration on vault, bars and beam.
Steffie Silva led her team with an all-around score of 35.9. Her highest score of the day was good for a second-place finish on vault with a 9.4.
Silva and Amberg have also qualifed for their AAU District Championship and the USAG state meet to be held in March and April.
In the level 5 division, Lakewood only had three competitors. As a result, all three scores from each gymnast on their respective events were counted toward the team total.
En route to helping the team to a fourth-place finish, Madion Byrd led the way with her strongest performance of the year. Byrd racked up three second-place finishes – vault (9.3), beam (9.2) and all-around (36.2).
Rachel Wisdom, in her age group, performed well enough for a first-place award on floor with a 9.0.
Ashley Harris, competing for the first time this year, had her highest score on floor with an 8.85.
The Lakewood team is coached by Ed Phillips, Caitlin Simpson, Mallory Simpson, Megan Burcham and Rebekah Payne.

None