MOULTRIE – The Moultrie YMCA gymnastics parents club hosted its 18th annual Red, White and You Invitational with 159 girls competing from Georgia and Florida.
Several gymnasts have qualified for the state meet already.
The YMCA’s state of the art gymnastics center was finished 20 years ago in February of 2003.
Since then, the YMCA has hosted two meets a year.
The Xcel Bronze team placed 1st with a score of 112.725.
“The bronze girls had a great meet with almost everyone scoring a personal best,” said coach Dawn Harvell. “Our strongest event was the uneven bars, my favorite event to coach. They had an average score of 9.4.”
The team was led by Ava Solanki winning the overall champion All Around banner out of all the Xcel bronze gymnasts.
She scored a 37.6 AA for 1st and she was 1st on vault, 9.35, and beam, 9.45, breaking the team record. Solanki placed 2nd on bars, 9.4 and 1st on floor, 9.4.
“Ava takes corrections well, pays attention to her form and has counted for team scores all season,” said Harvell.
Addison Blaxton was the next top AA with a 37.225. She placed 2nd on vault, 9.25, 2nd on bars, 9.3, tied 1st on beam, 9.4, and was 1st on floor, 9.275.
Allegra Porteus followed with a 37.175 AA, placing 2nd. She also placed 1st on vault, 9.45, 1st on bars, 9.425, 4th on beam, 9.3 and tied for 3rd on floor, 9.0.
Emma Abell placed 5th on vault, 8.95, 3rd on bars, 9.15, tied 1st on beam, 9.4 and tied 3rd on floor, 9.0. She placed 4th in the AA with a 36.5.
Whitley Bozeman placed 3rd on vault, 9.225, 4th on bars, 8.725, 2nd on beam, 9.4, and 2nd on floor, 9.3. Her AA was a 36.65.
Olivia Eubanks placed 2nd on vault, 9.35, 2nd on bars, 9.1, 4th on beam, 9.1, and 3rd on floor, 8.95. She placed 2nd in the AA with a 36.5.
Katie Goble placed 3rd on vault, 9.15, 1st on bars, 9.125, 2nd on beam, 9.25, and 4th on floor, 8.825. She placed 3rd in the AA with a 36.35.
Alyssa Howell placed 4th on vault, 9.15, 1st on bars, 9.45, 4th on beam, 9.225, and 3rd on floor, 9.15. She placed 2nd in the AA with a 36.975.
Melanie Lopez placed 4th on vault, 9.0, 4th on bars, 9.1, 3rd on beam, 9.375, and 2nd on floor, 9.05. She placed 3rd in the AA with a 36.525.
Brantlee Majors placed 3rd on vault, 9.05, 5th on bars, 9.0, 5th on beam, 9.15, and 5th on floor, 8.875. She placed 5th in the AA with a 36.075.
Lexi Miller placed 4th on vault, 9.0, 4th on bars, 8.75, 3rd on beam, 9.225, and 1st on floor, 9.3. She placed 4th in the AA with a 36.275.
Katie Morris placed 1st on vault, 9.4, 3rd on bars, 9.05, 1st on beam, 9.275, and 2nd on floor, 9.025. She placed 1st in the AA with a 36.75.
Jaceleigh Smithwick placed 2nd on vault, 9.25, 3rd on bars, 9.3, 3rd on beam, 9.3, and 4th on floor, 8.9. She placed 3rd in the AA with a 36.75.
“We have a great group of coaches working with the bronze (Kambria Blakely, Hailey Goble and Katherine Eubanks),” Harvell said. “With their leadership this group is showing improvement in every meet.”
The team’s one Xcel Platinum gymnast, Ansley Key, had a strong first meet with four best scores on the vault, 8.6 for 1st place, beam, 8.4, 2nd, floor, 9.05, 1st, and AA with a 33.6 for 2nd.
“Ansley did well on vault and floor in this meet,” Harvell said. “She looked confident performing, I was happy to see that. She is very excited about this new level.”
Our Excel Gold team was led by Kenya Morris placing 2nd on AA with a 36.05. Kenya made two nines one on beam 9.025 and one on floor 9.225. She came very close on vault and bars with an 8.9 on each event.
Lylah Anderson made 3 nines coming in 1st on bars with a 9.425, 2nd on beam with a 9.2, and 3rd on floor with a 9.05.
Ansley Lane placed 1st on beam with a 9.25, and 4th on floor, 8.875 and bars, 8.175.
“My goal was to improve our vault and floor scores because that is why other teams are beating us,” said coach Jeremy Merritt. “They have worked diligently every practice to improve and we saw it this meet. Five girls scored nines on vault and four scored nines on floor, hallelujah.”
The team finished 1st to the Valdosta YMCA with a score of 111.2.
“You can’t ask for more than that in your home gym, averaging a 9.3,” said Harvell.
Naomi de la Cruz led the team with an AA score of 36.9. She broke the team record on vault for 1st place with a 9.5. She placed 3rd on bars, 9.05, 3rd on beam, 9.225, and 2nd on floor, 9.125, with a personal best.
Isabella Alligood placed 2nd on vault, 9.2, 2nd on bars, 9.25, tied for 1st on beam, 9.35, and 3rd on floor, 9.0. She placed 3rd in the AA with a 36.8.
Khloe Booth placed 1st on vault, 9.15, 5th on bars, 8.9, 2nd on beam, 9.2, and tied for 2nd on floor, 8.95. She placed 3rd in the AA with a 36.2.
Maddy Booth placed 5th on vault, 8.6, 4th on bars, 8.95, 6th on beam, 8.65, tied for 2nd on floor with her sister, 8.95. She placed 5th in the AA with a 35.15 her personal best.
Julianne Carson placed 3rd on vault, 8.85, 2nd on bars, 9.325, 3rd on beam, 9.175, 4th on floor, 8.9. She placed 2nd in the AA with a 36.25.
Callee Golden placed 3rd on vault, 9.05, tied for 4th on bars, 9.15, placed 3rd on beam, 9.25, and placed 3rd on floor, 8.9. She placed 4th in the AA with a 36.35.
Adysen Hall placed 6th on bars, 8.725, 5th on beam, 8.8, and 1st on floor, 9.05. She placed 6th in the AA with a 26.575. Adysen struggled on vault, but came back to practice working hard and will be ready for the Tallahassee meet.
Kinsley Kelly placed 4th on the vault, 8.65, 3rd on bars, 9.05, 4th on beam, 9.0 and 5th on floor, 8.85. She placed 4th in the AA with a 35.55.
“Iella Key has worked extremely hard to perfect her skills and it showed in this meet,” said Harvell.
She had personal best scores on vault placing 2nd with a 9.15, tied 4th bars, 9.15, and 5th on beam, 8.9. She placed 5th in the AA with a 35.9.
Nolie Thompson placed 4th on vault, 8.85, 3rd on bars, 9.225, 1st on beam, 9.325, and 1st on floor, 9.45. She placed 1st in the AA with a 36.85.
“I was proud of the USA Level 6 teams performance for their very first meet of the season. The hometown atmosphere helped to calm their nerves and take the first place win,” said Harvell.
The team score was a 105.375. The team was led by Aubree Clements winning the overall champion All Around banner out of all the USA level 6 gymnasts. She scored a 35.8 AA for 1st place. She also broke the MG level 6 record on the vault by scoring a 9.2, 1st place, bars 8.7, 1st place, and floor 9.25, 1st place.
Bella Raleigh followed by winning the team record on beam for 1st place with an 8.8. She tied for 1st on vault with an 8.95, 1st on bars, 8.6, 1st on floor, 9.2, and taking 1st in the AA with a 35.55.
Eliza Jane Reagan tied for 1st on vault, 8.95, 2nd on bars, 7.85, 2nd on beam, 8.325, and 2nd on floor, 8.9. She placed 2nd in the AA with a 34.025. Kayla Scroggins placed 2nd on vault, 8.95, 2nd on bars, 7.65, 2nd on beam, 8.275, and 2nd on floor, 8.6. She placed 2nd in the AA with a 33.475.
Nataleigh Bryant placed 3rd on vault, 8.35, 3rd on bars, 7.55, 3rd on beam, 8.15, and 3rd on floor, 8.625. She placed 3rd in the AA by scoring a 32.675.
Alayah Copeland-Lambert also had her first meet of the season scoring a 31.2 for USA level 8. She placed 1st on vault, 8.1, 1st on beam, 8.475, and 1st on floor, 8.625.
“Alayah follows directions, takes corrections and was really trying to compete well at the meet. It really showed at this hometown event. She has taken on a big step this season competing a new level,” said Harvell.
The YMCA thanks its sponsors for this event, Dairy Queen, The Ice House, Zaxby’s, Dough Boys Pizza, Three Crazy Bakers, Dalton’s and Domino’s.