Hansen Gymnastics State Champion
Apryl Hansen of Tyler’s Texas East Gymnastics Level 8 Team is this years Floor State Champion. The championships were held in Plano at Infinite Bounds where athletes from all 6 Texas districts met to battle out who’s the best. Apryl tumbled higher and danced more graceful than any in her age group and earned the title of 2008 Level 8 State Floor Champion.
Other members of the Level 8 Team are Amanda Hamilton (injured), Haven Hughes and Cori Roach. Cori competed well and can add a 4th place finish on Floor at State to her resume. Haven also competed well; she placed 2nd on Vault and Bars, and 3rd on Floor and the All Around. Apryl slipped in right behind Haven in the All Around with a 4th place finish.
Both Haven and Apryl qualified to the Level 8 Regional Championships. The meet will be in the Dallas metroplex area and will host gymnasts from Oklahoma, Wyoming, New Mexico, Kansas, Arkansas and Colorado.
5 for 5 Gymnasts Sweep Regional spots from State Championships
The Level 9 Team from Texas East Gymnastics took second place in the state at the 2008 Level 9 & 10 State Championships held in Coppell. Ciara Maradiaga, Erin Odom, and Emily Rickman make up the small man team from TEG and combined forces this weekend to show Texas how Tyler does gymnastics!
All three girls performed solidly on four events and Coach Martin Parsley says, “I’m proud of these girls, since there are only 3 of them we had to count every score they got and everyone did a fine job.” Highlighting the Level 9 session was Ciara Maradiaga with her first place, gold medal all Around finish.
The Level 10’s competed next and did an equally fine job. Denaya Moore and Morgan Key are this year’s level 10’s from TEG and both handled themselves well under pressure. They kept nerves in check while also being aggressive and agile on their feet (and hands!).
All 5 gymnasts will travel to Wichita, Kansas in a few weeks to vie for a very few coveted spots at Westerns and Nationals.
TEG Gymnastics Team Crowned Silver Medalists at State Competition
The Level 7 Team of Texas East Gymnastics competed in Denton for their State Championship meet and the result was Silver! The seven Level 7’s put together 28 solid routines to vault themselves in to a 2nd place Team finish in the State of Texas. Additionally, Sidney Dukes, Angela Rogers, and Drew Watson won 1st place in All Around for their age division.
“These girls are the upcoming hot shots in the gym” said Coach Martin Parsley “and their future is bright.” Right now our training switches gears from refining routines to learning new tricks. So the race is on to see how much can be learned and mastered before the next meet season begins. That’s the neat thing about gym, you are never restricted by your age only your heart.
Level 7 North State Gymnastics Competition
The Level 7 Team from Texas East Gymnastics competed in their North State Championships in Mesquite. The qualification process is by All Around score and TEG is proud that all 8 team members qualified to the State Championships.
Before State though the Tyler gymnasts get to show off for a hometown crowd when they host the 2nd annual Rose City Classic. The meet will be held at the UT Patriot Center on March 7-9. The highest flying flips will be performed Saturday evening while the youngest cutie pies will show their stuff Friday evening. All TEG compulsory and optional gymnasts are looking forward to this opportunity to show Tyler what fun gymnastics is and why everyone should do it!
Highlights from the Level 7 North State Championships are as follows:
Sarah Dorsey All Around-36.7 and 14th place
Sidney Dukes Beam-9.575 and 3rd place
Kortlyn Hill All Around-37.125 and 17th place
Hannah Jacobsen
Savanna Maradiage Bars-9.575 and 10th place
Angela Rogers Vault-9.525 and 3rd place
Sarah Shaffer All Around-36.375 and 15th place
Drew Watson Floor-9.525 and 9th place
TEG Feels the Magic
Texas East Gymnastics traveled to Orlando, Florida to compete in the Magical Classic Gymnastics Competition. With Disney World as an added draw, this Florida meet is very well attended. There were athletes from all over the United States as well as Canada and Mexico. Morgan Key enjoyed conversing with a Mexican athlete and helped her feel better about her broken English by admitting that folks couldn’t really understand her Texas-draw either!
The sun shone bright and temperature soared has the TEG girls flipped and tumbled to numerous first place finishes and other awards too. TEG’s two Level 10’s,
Morgan Key and Denaya Moore, put quite a meet together. Denaya performed a Yurchenko Layout Half on Vault for her first time in competition and received a 9.675 to place 2nd. Morgan won first place on Bars and Floor with a 9.275 and a 9.125 respectively.
The Level 9 team comprised of Ciara Maradiaga, Erin Odom and Emily Rickman has many strengths and showed them by bringing home some gold, silver and bronze hardware! Erin’s fast strong legs allowed her to Vault to a first place finish with a 9.35 and tumble to a 2nd place finish on Floor with a 9.25. Erin also finished 2nd in the All Around. Ciara’s smooth rhythm and beautiful long lines swung her right into first place on Bars with a 9.375. Emily’s steady consistent work ethic works to her advantage in the sport of gymnastics where 4 different events make up an athletes all around score. Emily was the epitomy of consistent in Florida where she placed first on Bars and Beam and third on Floor.
The Level 8 Team was first to compete at the meet and placed themselves in the 4th place team rankings. Team members include Apryl Hansen, Cori Roach, Amanda Hamilton and Haven Hughes. Haven led the team with first place finishes on Bars, Floor and the All Around. Amanda and Apryl also helped the team with their 4th place All Around finishes and high rankings on Vault, Bars and Floor. Cori participated in the team score with her floor finish of 4th place and had a personal best on Beam by competing her flight combination for the first time.
High lighting the weekend, besides Mickey Mouse of course, was the Level 7 first place team finish. Out of 8 team members there were 6 first place, gold medal finishes. Both Sarah Shaffer and Angela Rogers won their All Arounds while Drew Watson and Savannah Maradiaga both took Silver in their All Arounds. Kortlyn Hill took 2nd place on Vault with a 9.65 and Sarah Dorsey won 3rd place on Beam with a 9.325. Hannah Jacobsen also performed a first time, personal best by completing a floor routine with all 3 tumbling passes and scoring an 8.825.
The trip was rounded out with visits to Disney World’s Magic Kingdome, Epcot, Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom. The athletes were barely phased by the twisting, turning roller coasters but some parents had different opinions about that! The traveling meet served it’s purpose as a team building event for TEG. Everyone came home fired up for each other and ready to host their own competition, The Rose City Classic, in one week.
Texas East Gymnastics Level 6 Triumphs at State
Texas East Gymnastics has completed a very successful 2007 compulsory season. A special congratulations goes out to Haley Sloan
and Lauren Bersano, two Level 6 gymnasts who qualified for and competed in the Texas State Championships last weekend. Haley, who has been consistent throughout the season, posted some great scores, the best coming on vault where she placed fourth scoring a 9.35. Her All Around score of 34.25 placed her 14th in the state of Texas in her age division. Lauren was a standout at the meet. She had her best competition of the season and posted some of her highest scores at this meet. She tied with Haley on vault scoring a 9.35 and placed fourth, she placed third on beam with an impressive 9.40, and placed second on floor with a 9.125. Her All Around score totaled 36.075 which placed her fourth in these championships. Texas East is extremely proud of both girls and we look forward to seeing their progress through the off-season and wish them continued success in the future!
Check out the fun at the Daddy-Daughter Dance. Thanks to all who participated!!
Storey Morris Signs on at University of Kentucky
Full Ride Gymnastics Scholarship
Storey Morris is a Level 10 gymnast at Texas East Gymnastics and the daughter of J.P. & Debbie Morris of Flint. Wednesday, November 14, she signed a Full scholarship to attend the University of Kentucky as a member of their Wildcats Gymnastics Team. Storey is 18 years old, and she will graduate in May 2008 from Kings Academy and has also been home-schooled. Storey’s coaches and teammates at TEG are so proud of her accomplishments and feel she’ll be a giant asset to the Kentucky Wildcats gymnastics team. UK coach, and former TEG coach, Chuck Dickerson says “having an athlete of Storey’s caliber on our team next year will make UK attractive to more athletes like Storey. See the Tyler Paper article on the signing and KLTV news article.
Alaina Johnson Represents at National Level
Alaina Johnson, 16 of Tyler and daughter of Randy and Beverly Johnson, traveled to San Jose, California last week to vie for a spot on the USA Women’s Gymnastics team. She was one of only 20 girls in the country to qualify, which in itself is no small feat.
Alaina and her coaches, Martin Parsley and Stacy Panfil-Parsley, arrived in California on Sunday, enjoyed the sights for a day and then got right to work on Monday. There were several days of two a day training sessions in order to get the gymnasts accustomed to the feeling of the equipment being up on a raised podium surface as opposed to the customary floor arrangement. Alaina’s first competition was on Thursday and her second on Saturday. She performed well, not nearly as nervous with 11,300 fans in attendance as last year!
While Alaina did perform well, her scores were not high enough to rank her in the coveted National Team member slots.
At the end of Saturday’s competition members were named on the National Team. Of those, 7 were selected at World Team members and traveled immediately to the National Training Center in Houston to train for 4 more days. The team then traveled to Stutguard, Germany by the end of the week to challenge other countries and individuals for world wide ranking. This being the year prior to the Olympics makes these world rankings are very telling.
As for Alaina and her coaches, they plan to get back in the gym and work differently in order to receive a different result next time. The words of Micheal Irving from his Hall of Fame acceptance speech ring truer than ever, he said you always have to “look up, get up and never give up” on your dreams.
On September 5th, the USA team won the world championship and it was very exciting to see our friends have such success.
National Gymnastics Day
NGD is an annual event celebrated across the nation in an effort to spread the good word about gymnastics and all its many benefits for boys and girls. Texas East Gymnastics celebrated the day on August 4th from 12 noon to 5 p.m. at the Peltier Nissan car dealership at the Loop 363 and Spur 364. Texas East Gymnastics performed high flying “flips and flops” by TEG’s highest level team athletes as well as their Boys, Cheerleaders, Pre-Teams and adorable Tiny Tumblers. See the nice write ups on the event in the Tyler Morning Telegraph on Saturday and Sunday.
Photos by Elizabeth Wilcox
Level 9 & 10 Gymnastics Regional Championships
The Texas East Gymnastics Level 9 and 10 teams competed in Coppell this weekend at the 2007 Regional Championships. “Regionals” means gymnasts from 6 surrounding states and Texas all qualify to compete against each other for the precious few top spots that will carry them forward to either the Western Championships or the National Championships. Level 9’s continue on to Westerns only if they place in the top 19 All Around and even harder than that; Level 10’s continue on to Nationals only if they are in the top 7 All Around spots!
Storey Morris, a Junior from Flint, didn’t have any trouble with that! In fact this competition was so natural for her that she came home with Gold on the Bars, Beam, Floor and the All Around! She also brought home Silver on Vault. In the Junior Olympic gymnastics system a 10.0 is perfect; therefore, a 40.0 All Around would also be perfect. Storey was quite close to perfect everywhere scoring a 9.7, 9.8, 9.7, 9.6 respectively on Vault, Bars, Beam and Floor and a whopping 38.8 All Around. It was no surprise to Coach Martin Parsley when his phone once again began ringing the next morning at 8a.m. from colleges all over the United States!
Denaya Moore, 13 years old from Mineola, likewise qualified to her pinnacle championship. Denaya, being younger and less experienced as Storey, could not keep her nerves under control as well as her teammate. Luckily though, Denaya swings bars to near perfection and her huge 9.7 score cushioned her very nervous 8.65 score on the Balance Beam! Denaya performed very well on Floor and Vault also with a 9.45 and a 9.3. Her high Bar score gave her a 4th place finish in her age group.
Also competing for TEG were Level 10 Morgan Key and Level 9’s Emily Rickman and Erin Odem. The Regional competition is packed with pressure and these athletes, fine and talented as they are simply could not keep their nerves in check. Coach Martin and Stacy are so proud of their accomplishments regardless though, each had personal obstacles to overcome and each did so; AND had a fine competition year. Emily and Erin both placed on Balance Beam, Erin placed 9th with a 9.375 and Emily placed 11th with a 9.5.
Storey Morris will be traveling to Cinncinati Ohio on May 16th to compete in the Junior Olympic National Championships. Storey is excited about the opportunity compete in this monstrous event again. Being a junior in high school, Storey is turning the heads of several college coaches! There will be about 30 to 40 university coaches at the National Championships scouting perspective team members. As every athlete does, Storey has a few schools she is interested in pursuing further when she can take official campus visits next September. In the mix are about 26 universities including the University of Kentucky, University of Denver, Ohio State University, University of Nebraska and University of Utah. Two of these schools have offers “on the table” for Storey but wise as she is she is unwilling to make a final decision before getting a feel for each school and its populace for herself.
Level 8 Regional Gymnastics Championships
Ciara Maradiaga of Texas East Gymnastics finished her 2007 Level 8 season at the Regional Championship Competition in Denton. In gymnastics, “Regionals” means that 7 states come together to compete against each other. TEG is in Region III which includes Oklahoma, Arkansas, Wyoming, New Mexico, Colorado, Kansas and Texas.
Ciara brought her year to a close with beauty and precision. She is a hard working athlete who enjoys perfecting tumbling, dance and choreography. Anyone with that tenacity will move ahead of others and Ciara did just that on Balance Beam at this championship meet. Ciara’s perserverance in the gym paid off as she stood on the FIRST PLACE award stand for her superb Balance Beam performance. This characteristic bodes well for her as she already has Level 9 skills in her bag of tricks and ready to go for next season!
Ciara scored a 9.45 on Vault, 9.2 on Bars, 9.675 on Beam and a 9.55 on Floor. She placed 9th on Vault, 15th on Bars, 1st on Bars, 2nd on Floor, and 5th in the All Around with a 37.875
Level 7 Gymnastics State Championships
Texas East Gymnastics’ Level 7 team competed in Denton, Texas at the 2007 State Championships. The competition was held on the TWU campus at the home of the TWU Pioneers.
Athletes and coaches from around the state came together as their athletes were presented with matching leotards from the State Gymnastics Board to show off their hard work and see who would be the Level 7 State Champion.
Amanda Hamilton of Dibol competed for her first time for TEG and made them proud. Amanda put in hours of hard work over the past year and it paid off. She placed 3rd on Bars with a 9.4, 4th on Floor with a 9.6 and 8th in the All Around with a 37.3.
Cori Roach of Pollok proved her mastery of Level 7 skills this year by placing 2nd on Beam and Floor with a 9.625 and 9.75 respectively. Cori also placed 7th on Vault with a 9.5 and was 9th in the All Around with a 37.675.
Apryl Hansen of Tyler and Haven Hughes of Bullard finished up the competition in the last session with scores, performances and hardware to be proud of. Apryl scored a 9.55 on Vault placing 8th, 9.525 on Beam placing 4th, 9.65 on Floor placing 7th, and a 37.875 for 6th place in the All Around. Haven scored a 9.35 on Beam and placed 5th, a 9.7 on Floor to place 3rd and a 37.75 for 7th in the All Around.
North State Level 7 Gymnastics Championships
The Level 7 team from Texas East Gymnastics competed in their qualifier to their 2007 State Championships at Metroplex Gymnastics in Dallas. The Level 7 rules are such that after North State the athletes are separated into 3 divisions; Gold, Silver and Bronze. All Around ranking determines a gymnast’s division at the State competition. Cori, Apryl and Haven qualified into the Gold division, meaning they were all in the top 8 overall in their respective age group, and Amanda placed into the Silver division for State.
A special hi-light of the competition came when a perfect 10.0 was awarded. Natalie Ryan of Metroplex Gymnastics got some serious hang time on her fronthandspring vault and was rewarded by the judges with a perfect 10.0! Good job Natalie, what’s next?
TEG individual accolades are as follows:
Cori Roach (Pollok) |
Haven Hughes (Bullard) |
Apryl Hansen (Tyler) |
Amanda Hamilton (Dibol) |
In the team competition TEG competed as a small man team and was head to head with Excite, StarFire, Zenith and EaglesWings. TEG took 3rd place!
Roses for Texas East Gymnastic Girls
Roses to all the TEG girls who competed at the 1st annual Rose City Classic Invitational meet held at the University of Texas Patriot Center March 17-18, 2007. All of the team girls did outstanding jobs and deserve roses for their hard work, showing the home crowd what gymnastics is all about.
Storey Morris stole the show Saturday evening with a clean sweep, earning 1st place awards on all events for the Level 10 Sr. A division. Courtney Harris placed a respectable 4th place on bars and beams, while Morgan Key placed 3rd on bars in the Jr. B division.
Level 9 gymnasts had a good night, bringing home 3rd place Team Award. In the Jr. B division, Denaya Moore placed 1st on bars and a 2nd place All Around, while Erin Odom placed 1st on vault. Emily Rickman placed 6th on beam and floor in the Jr. A division.
Ciara Maradiaga had a good meet placing 1st on bars, beam and All Around in the Level 8 Sr. B division.
The Level 7 girls also had a great meet also bringing home the 3rd place Team Award. Apryl Hansen earned 1st on vault, beam, floor and All Around, while Haven Hughes placed 1st on bars, and 2nd on bars, beam and All Around in the Sr. B division. Cori Roach placed 3rd on beam and 4th All Around in the Sr. A division, and Amanda Hamilton placed 5th on vault and bars in the Jr. B division.
Level 6 girls showed the crowd their skills by earning the 1st place team award. In the Jr. B division, Angela Rogers scored 1st on vault, beam and floor, with 2nd place All Around, while Courtney Bowers placed 3rd on vault. The Jr. A division girls swept the All Arounds with Sara Shaffer placing 1st on floor and All Around, Sidney Dukes 1st on vault and beam, and 2nd on All Around, while Drew Watson placed 2nd on vault and 3rd All Around. Continuing the sweep, Sarah Dorsey placed 2nd on Beam and 4th All Around while Savana Maradiaga placed 1st on bars, 2nd on beam and 5th All Around and Kortlyn Hill finished 3rd on vault.
Laruen Bersano and Haley Sloan represented the Level 5s with a 1st place tie on vault. Bersano continued with a clean sweep on all other events for All Around, and Sloan placed 3rd on All Around.
Level 4 girls brought home the 1st place Team Award. Paeton Nolan tied with her teammate Madi Burke for 1st on bars. Nolan also placed 1st on beam and All Around.
Mital Ghuge and Lauren Gandy represented the Level 3 girls, with Ghuge placing 1st on vault and 3rd All Around, and Gandy placing 5th All Around, and 3rd place Team Award.
Congratulations to all TEG competitors. We are proud of you!
2007 Rose City Classic Invitational
Tyler Morning Telegraph - 1 story about Rose City Classic
Tyler Morning Telegraph - 2 story about Sessions 3 Level 9-10
The Optional gymnastics team from Tyler’s Texas East Gymnastics went head to head with Houston gymnasts at the Svetlana Boguinskia Invitational. The competition was held at the Woodland Gymnastics Academy where 9 time World Champion and 5 time Olympic Medalist Svetlana Boguinskia looked on at the future stars of gymnastics. Svetlana gave the gymnasts a pep talk, handed out awards, signed autographs and posed for pictures.
The Level 7 team had something of Svetlana’s championship side in them when they took 1st place. Haven Hughes of Bullard maintained her personal winning streak after taking first place on nearly everything at this invitational. Haven placed 2nd on Vault with a 9.775 and won 1st place on Bars Beam Floor and the All Around with a personal best of 38.075. Cori Roach of Pollok put up a 9.55 on Vault and took 3rd, Apryl Hansen of Tyler put up a 9.1 on Beam for 3rd place and Dibol’s Amanda Hamilton put up a 9.6 on Floor for 2nd place.
The Level 9 Team comprised of Emily Rickman (Tyler), Erin Odom (Whitehouse) and Denaya Moore (Minneola) put in 12 solid events and brought home the Level 9 1st Place trophy. To help the team Denaya contributed a 1st place on Bars with a 9.55 as well as 1st place in the All Around with a 37.55. Erin put her “two flips” in on Vault with a 9.4 for 1st place and Floor with a 9.35 for 3rd place. Emily rounded out the team with a 1st place on Beam with a 9.45 and 2nd place on Floor with a 9.5.
Ciara Maradiaga (Level 8) and Morgan Key (Level 10) didn’t need teammates to help them come in first; each won their respective age levels plus individual events. Morgan placed 2nd on Bars and Beam with a 9.275 and a 9.3 helping her to clinch the overall with a 37.3. Ciara won gold on Bars with a 9.75 and sealed the All Around with a nice round 38.0
Coach Martin Parsley said, “The Svetlana Invitational was a great mid-season competition for us. We scored and placed well, this will help our confidence and aggressiveness as we make the big push toward final culminating meets in April and May. More than that though, it sets us up nicely to perform easily in front of all our home town fans in The Rose City Classic Invitational that we’re hosting March 10th at the UT Patriot Center.”
WOGA Classic - February 3-4, 2007
Gymnasts from the east Texas area recently competed in the WOGA Classic. This competition began several years ago and was not at all what it is now. “And what is it now?” you might ask; well there were gymnasts competing from 19 different states and 10 different countries. The foreign gymnasts represented Russia, Ukraine, Japan, Great Britain, Australia and Canada.
The competition attracts these foreign athletes partly because the host gym’s owners hail from Russia and were Olympians in their day. Also, the competition is quite well run and winning athletes who do not want to maintain NCAA status can receive prize money.
Texas East Gymnastics took their entire Optional team, comprising of gymnasts in Level 7 through Elite. Alaina Johnson competed in the Elite session and placed 5th on Floor with a 14.45 and 4th on bars with a 13.65. Alaina trains very hard and just prior to the WOGA Classic was training with coach Martin Parsley at the Women’s National Team Training Center with Martha Karolyi and other National Staff members. Alaina aspires to be a member of the Senior National Team.
Morgan Key represented TEG in the Level 10 session. This competition was Morgan’s second of the year and was by far her best. After her first competition, she and her coaches really felt she could improve on all four events so she got in the gym every day and put the time in. Her hard work paid off when she sailed through four events maintaining an average of 9.0. Morgan placed 2nd in the All Around and to celebrate she and her mom went shopping at the new Frisco mall!
The Level 9 team, comprised of Emily Rickman (Tyler), Erin Odom (Whitehouse), and Denaya Moore (Mineola), also performed well. Emily Rickman’s successes are even sweeter given that she could not workout on her right arm for 8 weeks at the end of summer due to an injury. Emily pushed through her frustration of not being full speed in workouts by focusing on other parts of her gymnastics and by believing that not only would she come back to her pre-injury level but surpass that and compete the next level. Emily’s perseverance worked and paid off as she finished 3rd in the WOGA Classic on Floor, 5th on Vault and 8th All Around. Erin was coming off the flu and did not compete all four events, however; she did place 9th on Vault with a 9.0. Denaya’s highlight was on her best event, Bars, where she scored a 9.35 and placed 2nd. She also placed well in the All Around, 4th, and 6th on Floor. Denaya is a powerful, fast twitch athlete who has a big future.
Ciara Maradiaga, a Level 8 from Tyler was perhaps the most consistent gymnast of the weekend. Her performances and scores demonstrated the day in and day out work ethic she exhibits in the gym. Ciara scored a 9.55 on Vault, 9.5 on Bars, 9.475 on Beam and a 9.5 on Floor. She placed 2nd on everything except Vault which she won! Ciara knows practice doesn’t make perfect but perfect practice does!
The Level 7 team finished up the weekend for TEG with an exclamation point. The team consists of Cori Roach of Pollok, Amanda Hamilton of Dibol, Haven Hughes of Bullard and Apryl Hansen of Tyler. Cori is easily the punchiest of the team and scored a team high 9.4 on Floor placing 3rd, Amanda placed 7th on Floor with a 9.1. Apryl and Haven both brought home gold medals, Apryl won Beam and Haven won Bars. Haven finished the event off by being the All Around gold medal champion. Apryl finished second and helped the Level 7 team take 4th place overall.
TEG coaches are proud and hopeful for the future.
Level 7 Team
Gymnast has Abs of Steele and Nerves too
Elite gymnast Alaina Johnson returns from the USA National Championships a different gymnast. Alaina was 1 of only 21 Senior athletes in the country to qualify to this, the most prestigious US competition. This year’s National Championships was held August 17 - 19, 2006 in St. Paul, Minnesota at the Excel Energy Center. There were two days of competition for the Senior Women, on day one approximately 6,000 spectators showed up to watch and nearly 10,000 on day two! Alaina thought she knew how to handle pressure but this meet asked her to handle a whole lot more and she did.
Coach Martin Parsley said, “At competitions we like to act as if it’s just another workout so therefore, in workouts we try hard to simulate competition surroundings, noise, stress and pressure but there was no way we could have simulated what was in store for us in St. Paul.” Like every other sport, when it comes to being televised suddenly the TV. networks begin to call the shots and tell you how the competition is going to run. NBC owns the rights to USA Gymnastics and decided since there were so few Senior gymnasts that each gymnast would compete one at a time. Probably not a big deal for veteran World Champions like Nastia Liukin, Alicia Sacramone and Chellsie Memmel but for Tyler’s first timer Alaina Johnson and her coaches it was slightly overwhelming. The arena fell silent as each gymnast performed her routine, the only sound was that of the numerous professional photographers clicking away and the footfalls of the NBC camera men running from event to event in order to film the nation’s favorite gymnasts. While Alaina used the mental toughness techniques that her and her teammates learned through their sports psychology class there were still a few butterflies here and bobbles there. Day two of competition showed a more controlled Alaina and at the end of it all Alaina said, “It was fun” and that she is ready to add a few new tricks and be right up there with the best at next year’s USA Championships.
Coach Parsley says, “Her future is bright, we’re going to relax for a bit then get right back to it. With more hard work and the continued sponsorships from Four Season’s Women’s Health, DeHaven, and Azalea’s Dr. Beck we’ll make next year’s Senior National Team. After all, with dedication and determination dreams do come true you know.”
Alaina Johnson Competes at 2006 Nationals
Final 4 Results
Four members of the Texas East Gymnastics Level 10 Team competed Friday in their 2006 Regional competition. Competition was tough and every athlete had to be on top of her game in order to grab a spot in the top 7 All Around rankings. Those 7 seeds are so precious because being named in one of them qualifies you to the United States Junior Olympic National Competition---the pinnacle of a Level 10’s season. Level 10 is the highest level of Junior Olympic competition funneling the numbers from 68,000 to 448 qualifiers to the national championships.
Competing for Texas East Gymnastics this year was Haley Carson of Bullard, Courtney Harris of Whitehouse, Morgan Key of Garrison and Storey Morris of Flint. All of these athletes had a great year that was filled with trials and triumph. Every athlete goes through ups and downs but their dedication to their goal and the personal gratification they feel after a hot, sweaty, tough workout allows them to keep their eye on their goal.
Haley Carson battled through several minor injuries throughout the season and had four solid performances at Regionals. She delighted the crowd and judges with a playful Floor routine where she scored a 9.3 and had a personal best on Vault, performing a tucked Yurchenko, and scored a 9.125. Haley performed equally as well on Beam and Bars but due to her start values there, her scores were not high enough to place her in the top 7 for the All Around.
Likewise, Morgan Key did not make the top 7 but also had a stellar competition by her own standards. This was Morgan’s first competitive year with TEG and her first experience in a high pressure competition. Her first event was Bars and nerves tried to get the best of her but Coach Martin Parsley was able to calm her down and help her focus. While Morgan did have a fall on Beam, besides that part it was the best routine she had competed all year. Finally she was able to rotate to the two power events, Floor and Vault. Morgan performed strongly receiving a 9.4 and a 9.075.
Courtney Harris was the team’s most consistent member at Regionals. She scored a 9.525, 9.425, 9.4 and a 9.45 on Vault, Bars, Beam and Floor respectively. Courtney had two tremendous weeks of training in the gym prior to this meet so it came as no surprise to her coaches, Martin Parsley, Stacy Panfil-Parsley and Chuck Dickerson, that she hit four for four routines at the meet. Consistent, hard work always pays off. Courtney placed 4th in the All Around, thus securing herself a ticket to Nationals. This is Courtney’s second year as a Level 10 and first time to qualify. She is quite excited to make the trip to Nationals.
Storey Morris is by far the veteran of the team. She has been to Nationals and is a pro when it comes to handling pressure, certainly better than her Mom and 3 sisters who held hands and prayed nervously in the stands up to the very last landing! Storey began the competition on the Floor where she performed well but not her usual “well” because she was forced to make adjustments while tumbling in order to land on her feet. You see, even though a floor exercise mat is a floor exercise mat, one is never exactly the same as another, and then when you throw nerves and adrenalin into the equation you come out with a different answer almost every time. With those opening jitters out of her system Storey went to Vault and Bars where she made up for her unusual start by performing normally and getting a 9.625 and a 9.6. Now, if there is one event in women’s gymnastics that is every gymnast’s nemesis it is without a doubt the big, foreboding, BEEEAAAMMM! Storey is an incredibly focused person and athlete but when she missed her flip-flop layout step out combination both times in her warm-up Coach Stacy Panfil-Parsley could see doubt creeping into her mind. Thankfully, both the coach and athlete could rely on some Sports Psychology training they’d done as well as recalling all the consistent repetitions Storey had done in the last 12 months of working out. When it was Storey’s turn to mount the beam she did so with confidence and expectations for all perfect landings, and that is just what she got! So much so that she was the Gold Medalist on Beam. Storey also won the gold on bars and qualified to Nationals by being 2nd in the All Around.
Storey and Courtney are excited about Nationals and excited about all the “stuff” they get. All gymnasts making it to Nationals receive a warm-up leotard, competition leotard and scrunchie, a warm-up outfit and a duffle bag. The one part the girls are not too excited about is that Nationals isn’t someplace “cool”, this year Nationals are in Oklahoma!
TEG "Rocks the Dome" at LA Cup Invitational
Texas East Gymnastics gymnasts “rocked the dome” at Louisiana Cup Invitational at Centenary College in Shreveport on January 21, 2006, sweeping 1st Place Team Awards for Levels 7, 8 and 10!
On the Level 7 team, Apryl Hansen led her age division with 1st place on vault, 2nd place on beam, and 1st place All Around with a 36.15. In a separate age division, Haven Hughes performed beautifully receiving 1st place on beam, 2nd on uneven bars, 3rd on vault, and 1st place All Around with a 36.825. Ciara Maradiaga was close behind with a 1st place on uneven bars, 3rd on beam, and 2nd All Around score of 36.725. Michelle Wimberly scored high with a 1st place vault and 3rd place uneven bar routine, taking 4th in the All Around with 35.925. In the other Level 7 age division, Cori Roach had a personal best with beautiful routines, placing 2nd on floor and 3rd on vault, taking 4th place in the All Around in her age division with a 35.825.
The Level 8 girls had outstanding routines on nearly all events. Erin Odom and Denaya Moore placed 1st and 3rd in the All Around with scores of 37.475 and 35.75 respectively, and tied for first in the Vault. Erin also placed 1st in beam and floor, and 2nd on bars, while Denaya placed 2nd on floor. In another age division, Emily Rickman had a rock-solid meet, placing 1st in the All Around with a 37.325, with a 1st place on beam, and 2nd places on vault, bars and floor.
The Level 10 team wowed the crowd and fellow gymnasts with beautiful routines and difficult acrobatic skills. The Junior Division girls placed in the top 3 in all events. Courtney Harris won All Around with a 37.15, finishing first on vault, beam and floor. Haley Carson finished 2nd in the All Around with a 36.15, with a first place bars routine and 2nd on vault beam and floor. Morgan Key had a 3rd place All Around score or 34.6, placing 3rd in all events.
Storey Morris finished first place in vault, bars, and beam, and second on floor, and with an All Around score of 37.55. Elite gymnast Alaina Johnson had an awesome performance in the open division, receiving the highest All Around scores of 37.975.
The Texas East Gymnastic gymnasts are coached by Martin Parsley, Stacy Panfil-Parsley and Chuck Dickerson.
Alaina Johnson Shines at 2005 US Championships in Indianapolis
Now that the 2004 gymnastics Olympians like Carly, Courtney and Terrin are pursuing things like college and high school diplomas, the die hard gymnastics fans are left asking themselves "Who's Next?" Who is the next household name and personality to be watch for and root for through the Beijing Olympics in 2008? To answer that question Indianapolis, Indiana hosted the United States Gymnastics Championships August 11-13, 2005.
Although Chelsea Memmel, 2003 World Bar Champion and 2004 Olympic Team Silver winner, competed in Indy; the up and coming gymnastics icon is yet another little girl from Plano named Nastia Liukin. Truth be known, she comes by this privilege quite honestly! Nastia was born to father and Olympic Champion in Men's Gymnastics, Valeri Liukin and mother, World Champion Rhythmic Gymnast Anna Liukin. 2005 marks Nastia's 3rd consecutive year to be named National Champion but this is the first year she is the Champion AND age eligible for the upcoming Olympics.
However, like most sports, timing and luck play a small role
in determining champions and medals. So while Houston has had its share of
Olympic stars and now it seems that Plano does too, little old Tyler isn't
too far behind! A young girl named Alaina Johnson from Texas East Gymnastics
also competed in Indianapolis. Although this was her first showing at a National
competition, Alaina was not a new face. For the last 12 months Alaina has
been training monthly for 4 days at a time in Houston at the National Training
Center at the invitation of Martha Karolyi, National Women's Team Coordinator.
Alaina enjoys training with other gymnasts her level from around the country
and was relatively comfortable competing against her Training Center teammates
too. The US Championship competition was held over 2 days and scores from
both days were combined for final placements and rankings. Alaina's best performance
came on the Bars where she finished 12th overall. Her All Around score was
a mere .8 out of ranking her in the top 16, who are now the 2005 - 2006 National
Team. While Alaina and her coaches, Martin Parsley and Stacy Panfil-Parsley,
thought it would have been awesome to make the team, they all count it as
a huge success and a positive experience that will help in the future. After
all, the Olympics are still 3 years away so time is on their side and luck
too hopefully!
Click here for results and scores.
Click here for photos of Alaina at Nationals.
Storey Morris Places 1st at 2005 US Classic/Challenge
Storey Morris and Alaina Johnson travelled to the 2005 US Classic/Challenge
- International Elite and Pre-Elite Level Qualifiers, July
22-24, 2005 at the Virginia Beach Pavilion Convention Center in Virginia,
to compete among the top 100 gymnasts in the country. Storey placed 1st in
both the pre-elite Sr options and compulsary events, while Alaina placed 22
in the International Junior category. For meet results, go to the Classic/Challenge
web site. Congratulations Storey & Alaina!! See
KLTV video story on Storey! (you may have better luck seeing the video
using Netscape instead of Internet Explorer)
Texas East Gymnast Signs Full Ride Scholarship
Michelle Lopez, 17 of Van and daughter of Vickie and Tony Lopez, signed a full ride gymnastics scholarship to Central Michigan University this Tuesday. She began at Texas East Gymnastics nine years ago because she liked to tumble and quickly realized she enjoyed the Vault, Bars and Beam just as much fun. Michelle's skill level improved rapidly and that's when she thought that a college scholarship might be in her grasp. Michelle says, "Of course there were bumps along the road and hard times but relying on God, family, coaches, and teammates kept me going."
Michelle competed in the Level 10 Regional Championships in mid April and
in the sport of gymnastics, a "regional" competition is made up
of gymnasts throughout a 7 state region. This particular meet was a qualifying
competition to the Junior Olympic National Championships. The criteria to
qualify is that a gymnast must rank in the top 7 in the All Around. Michelle
was 5th in the All Around, thus she is now making her 4th consecutive trip
to Nationals!
Michelle has undoubtedly put in the sweat to reach her goals and is now enjoying
the sweet taste of success. She is looking forward to the college team atmosphere
but says she'll be home to visit often.