Team News

Gymnast, Erin Odom, Signs with Towson University

Erin Odom of Whitehouse, TX accepted an offer from Towson University to be a member of their gymnastics team beginning in the fall of 2012.  In addition to family, friends, teammates, and school officials those in attendance at Erin’s signing were several key people in the Tyler medical community; Massage Therapist Deborah de Wet, Chiropractor Allen Preddy, Physical Therapist Terry Bunker and Airrosti Dr. Jason Bassett.
Erin came to Texas East Gymnastics six years ago from McKinney.  Her determination to improve her gymnastics was evident from day one and is still evident today.  Coach Martin Parsley says, “Erin is a lot of fun to coach, she is so powerful and quick that Vaulting and Tumbling come easy for her as well as Balance Beam because of its acrobatic skills.  She has a strong character and is the member of the team who keeps things light with laughter!” 
Towson Coach Vikki Chliszczyk is excited about the difficulty level in Erin’s routines and is eager to keep her growing in the sport while at Towson.  Erin hopes to be in a leadership role on the team as well as be a contributing member to the team score at each competition.  Erin is looking forward to coming away from Towson with a degree in Exercise Science.

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Compulsory Gymnasts at Texas East Gymnastics Wrap up 2011 Season

The compulsory levels of the Texas East Gymnastics’ competitive team are wrapping up a highly successful 2011 season. Levels 3 through 6 have made a name for themselves throughout Texas by placing well throughout the fall season and qualifying for their respective championships.
The introductory Level 3’s completed their season at the District competition in October. They had their best scores of the season with all-around scores ranging from 36.65 to the top score of Kaitlin Abanto at 37.65. Kaitlin also scored an impressive 9.7 on vault and bars. Her vault score was still third to Madeline Galloway with a 9.8 and Kaitlyn Morris with a 9.9. Other level 3’s include Rachel Humphrey with a 37.400, Lindy Sheffield, Rikki Morris, and Nonnie Foley. These girls are already back in the gym, hard at work on their skills for next season.
After a great season, the Level 4 team ended on a high note by having everyone qualify for their final competition at North State. Up against some of the toughest gyms in the northern half of the state, they made everyone take notice of TEG by placing in the top six on many individual events and the all-around competition. Kaylee Mitchell led the team with a 2nd Place finish by scoring a 38.150 AA but Brooklyn Peterson was right on her heels with 38.125 AA and 3rd place. They each claimed the bar and floor gold medals for their age groups. Lynley Lawhon , Audrey Baugh, Whitney Davis and Samantha Proctor brought home 5th and 6th places in the AA as well. Lilly Morris rocked her vault, landing a 9.825 to get 2nd, but the entire team vaulted their way to a total of nine medals on vault, including: Julia Eddings 3rd , Audrey Baugh 4th , Callie Selman, 6th , and Joy Standefer, 5th. Joy and Chloe Carl each placed on beam as well.
Although Level 5 proves to be highly competitive throughout Texas, both the 5 Achievement and 5 Placement girls proved they have what it takes. The achievement girls, Michelle Potter, Lexi Dziedzic, and Aidan Sheffield, concluded their season at District with scores two or three points higher tha at the beginning of the season. Hadley McCormick finished at North State leaving an impression with her strong bars. Qualifying for the State Championships on Dec. 10th were: Cierra Cinti who ended her season as the State Bar Champion taking first with a 9.775, Julia Conflitti had a beautiful floor score of 9.325, Ceilie Crawford took 3rd on floor scoring a 9.4, Macy Parsley finished 10th on Floor with a 9.150, Abby Stainback scored a season high A.A. of 36.550, and Emma Winebarger finished her season with a 9.075 on Floor.
The Level 6 team wrapped up their competition season at the State Championships in Plano. After qualifying to the state meet, all three girls finished strong. Christian Wright showed what kind of stuff these girls are made of by placing 2nd on bars, 3rd on beam and scoring a 36.775 for a 4th place finish all-around. Sierra Reynolds was solid as a rock on the balance beam, bringing home 7th place on one of the most challenging events. And Sydney Creath threw a great vault, scoring 9.45 to receive 8th place. Tori Atwood, though unable to complete the season, proved she was high capable in earlier meets, bringing home silver medals for bars and beam. This team’s dedication to the sport and hard work have truly paid off , making them great examples for the teams following in their footsteps

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Angela Rogers Crowned Western Gymnastics Champion

Angela Rogers of Whitehouse just returned from sunny San Diego, California with 2 “sunny” gold medals and 1 bronze medal around her neck!  Angela was there to compete in the Level 9 Western Championships.  Gymnasts there were all those west of the Mississippi who placed in the very top percentage at their Regional Championships.
Coach Martin Parsley said, “Angela was definitely prepared for the meet.  We worked very hard beginning last December to have enough difficulty, be clean of execution errors and to be consistent, that formula worked well for us.”  Angela began the competition on Vault, the event that she won a Gold medal on at Regionals.  While this is her strong event, judge’s scores seem to escalate throughout a meet so Angela drawing Vault as her first event could have proven unlucky, however; her layout Yurchenko was very clean and her body shape was flawless which is why her score of a 9.55 held on to be the Gold medal score of the meet.  Her Bar routine had a slight hiccup in it but not huge and her Beam and Floor were terrific.  If anything was going to cause Angela to stumble in this meet it would have been her first tumbling pass on floor; a roundoff one and a half back layout to immediate punch front flip in pike shape.  Coach Parsley said, “she did the best one and a half front she has ever done in her WHIOLE life, couldn’t have come at a better time!”  As the meet finished up, Parsley was still unsure how Angela’s scores compared.  After speaking with another coach about winning scores from previous sessions Parsley began to be hopeful and sure enough Angela’s 37.6 was enough to bring home Gold on Vault, Bronze on Beam and Gold in the All Around!
Finishing as the champion at Westerns has also awarded Angela a spot in a National Training Camp at the National Training Center with world renown Coach Martha Karolyi and other National staff members.  While most folks would be ready for a few days off and a little r & r Angela was in the gym first thing Monday afternoon preparing for an Elite Clinic she and her teammates will be attending the end of May.  Parsley said, “In gymnastics a youthful body and mind are essential so time is of the essence.  Angela is so pumped up right now from her win that we are all going to take advantage of her motivation and push as much as possible, she has stars in her eyes and right now and only the sky is her limit!”
Parsley leaves Wednesday for California again, this time taking the Level 10 team who are hoping to repeat and maybe even improve on Angela’s accolades.

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Texas East Gymnastics Claims 2 More State Champions

Texas East Gymnastics’ Level 9 and 10 gymnasts competed in their State Championships and qualified all 9 athletes to Regionals.  The weekend was grueling for Coach Martin Parsley for two reasons; one, because the competition began Saturday morning at 8 a.m. and did not finish until Sunday evening at 7p.m.  The second reason the meet was tough was because it was filled with chaos.  Chaos such as sunlight streaming into the gymnasium directly on the Balance Beam, judges battling the stomach virus and frequenting the restroom and gymnasts bleeding on the Balance Beam and officials cleaning it off then needing to blow dry and sand the beam!
Despite those uncontrollable factors, two Texas East gymnasts can call themselves State Champions.  Angela Rogers of Whitehouse is the Level 9 Bar Champion and Emily McLemore of Nacogdoches is the Level 10 Beam Champion.  Both girls performed quite steady on their routines and “did their job” as they say.  Texas East Gymnastics not only promotes strong gymnastics preparation but also strong mental toughness.  The girls were able to get in “the zone” tuning out all the chaos and perform their routines with effortless, laser like focus. 
These two scores definitely helped their teams in the team competition.  The Level 9’s placed second, missing the gold medal by only .025 tenths and the Level 10’s came in third.  Another hi-light of the Level 10 session was Erin Odom of Whitehouse who caught her Uneven Bar release move, a Tkachev, for the first time in competition.  This after not even having a chance to warm it up!

Coach Parsley said, “I felt like our teams were in a good place coming into the meet, especially since they did so well at the Rose City Classic.  Everyone did well but I definitely saw some particular skills and/or combinations that need cleaning up.”  The girls only have three weeks to prepare for Regionals, and if they expect to qualify on there will be absolutely no room for error.  One thing that will be in our favor is that the competition is going to be held in Plano, most often times it is in New Mexico or Colorado so this will feel like “home!”

LAST NAME	FIRST NAME	LEVEL	VAULT	PL	BARS	PL	BEAM	PL	FLOOR	PL	A.A.	PL
HILL	KORTLYN	9	9.525	3	9.575	2	8.025		9.425		36.550	13
SHAFFER	SARAH	9	9.550	5	9.675	2	9.225	9	9.500		37.950	2
MARADIAGA	SAVANNA	9	9.200	8	8.800		9.375	3	9.150		36.525	10
ROGERS	ANGELA	9	9.750	3	9.525	1	9.475	2	9.350		38.100	2
WATSON	DREW	10	9.400	7	7.000		8.725		9.525	5	34.650	16
RICKMAN	EMILY	10	9.625	2	8.125		9.200	7	9.500	8	36.450	10
MCLEMORE	EMILY	10	9.400	8	9.550	4	9.700	1	9.400	9	38.050	6
ODOM	ERIN	10	9.700	6	9.300	8	8.775		9.500		37.275	8

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TEG Shines at Rose City Classic - Tyler Paper ( 1)

TEG Shines at Rose City Classic - Tyler Paper (2)

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D. Abanto to Represent TEG at Level 8 Regionals

Danica Abanto of Tyler will represent Texas East Gymnastics at the Level 8 Regional Gymnastics Championships in Norman, Oklahoma.  She qualified to that championship meet because this weekend at her State Championships she placed 14th in the All Around.  That State competition was held in the Houston area where Level 8 gymnasts from all over the state competed to see who would be the best of the best.  Danica began the morning on the Floor exercise with an awesome routine and score of 9.7 and then moved easily through Vault where she performed a Pike Tsukahara that scored a 9.25.  She had a slight miscalculation on Bars that resulted in a fall but didn’t let that stay with her long because she marched right over to the Balance Beam, performed aggressively and scored a 9.6.   So in a few weeks she and her coaches will be off to Norman, OK to compete against Level 8’s in Texas’s region.  Coach Parsley said, “Danica has a whole lot of speed and power so optional gymnastics really suits her, she should do very well in Norman and in the next Level(s) too.”

Danica Abanto 12 year old age group Level 8
Vault 9.25 - 11th place
Bars 8.6
Beam 9.6 - 4th place
Floor 9.7 - 3rd place
All Around 37.15 - 14th place

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Texas East Gymnasts Take on Tiger Classic

The optional gymnastics team from Texas East Gymnastics traveled to Austin this weekend to compete in the opening meet of their season. The draw of this competition was live tigers. The host gym brought in live tigers from an Oklahoma zoo and the winning All Around gymnasts had the special opportunity to pet and play with the tiger cubs. - Read the rest of the story.

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Dreams Come True for Local Gymnast

Texas East Gymnastics student, Ciara Maradiaga, had some hard choices to make a year and a half ago. When most of her classmates and teammates were making graduation plans and buying comforters for their dorm room, Ciara was relying on faith and passion to choose her path. Her options were to find a solution to her shoulder injury and continue gymnastics or quit a sport she loved, excelled at and had dedicated her life to and pay her own way at junior college.
A year before, Ciara's gymnastics skill level and college scholarship potential were brighter than bright. Then her shoulder began to nag her until she finally sought professional help. After heeding their advice and therapies for several months Ciara's shoulder still was not well and frustration set in. She was tired of being patient with the injury and extremely disappointed to see her college scholarship slip away. So when a professional medical opinion told her she should give up her dream, throw her life's work down the drain and quit the sport she loved, she wondered if he was right. After a long discussion with her coaches and mother and weighing all of the pro's and con's, Ciara was determined not to give up her dreams. She knew she loved gymnastics enough to endure her injury, get back into shape and HOPE colleges would still look at her. While her coaches knew there was a risk she would not get 100 percent of her gymnastics skills back, they also remembered her talent for the sport and her heart to fight all the way. They decided together to seek a fourth opinion and THAT was magical! Ciara was quickly diagnosed with a labrum tear, sent to surgery for repairs, and then she persevered a 6 month rehab program. Today Ciara is 99% back to the gymnast she was.
While slowly building her skills back, Ciara was in touch with colleges and found an affinity for Centenary College in Louisiana. The relationship was mutual and they recently offered Ciara a place on the gymnastics team beginning January 2011! Ciara said, "I really like the girls on the team! Everyone is really nice and they all really love doing gymnastics. I definitely wanted to be at a school where gymnastics was still fun to do, not like it was a pressure filled job. The school itself fits me well too. I like the intimate size and think I can make an impact there." Coach Martin and Stacy Parsley could not be prouder and happier for her and believe ever more in the old saying about hard work and perseverance paying off!

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Gymnasts Advance To State

November 11, 2010

The Level 5 team from Texas East Gymnastics competed in the North State Championships this weekend in Dallas. The gymnasts were all doing their best performances on the Vault, Bars, Beam and Floor in hopes of qualifying to The State Championships. TEG had 3 athletes qualify to State, Sierra Reynolds of Mt. Enterprise, and Christian Wright and Sydney Creath of Tyler. All these girls work out numerous hours every week so when their hard work pays off it is rewarding. The State Meet will be in Houston in a few weeks, so between now and then gymnasts and coaches go back to the gym to straighten knees and point toes! Gymnastics is a sport of repetition and repetition and repetition and often times changes the coaches are looking for very minute, making it even more rare to find young girls with the tenacity to work so diligently. The TEG coaches are very proud of their gymnasts and know progress will continue. Also competing in the North State Meet were Macy Parsley, Julia Conflitti, Makynlee Smith and Hadley McCormick.

LAST NAME	FIRST NAME	VAULT	PL	BARS	PL	BEAM	PL	FLOOR	PL	A.A.	PL
PARSLEY	MACY	8.225		7.800		9.050		8.125		33.200
REYNOLDS	SIERRA	8.800	9	8.650		9.050	8	8.950		35.450	9
CONFLITTI	JULIA	8.925	6	7.925		8.625		8.950		34.425	11
WRIGHT	CHRISTIAN	8.325		8.800		9.250	7	9.275	8	35.650	9
SMITH	MAKYNLEE	9.000	8	8.725	8	9.075		8.700	11	35.500
McCORMICK	HADLEY	8.100	5	8.775		7.650		8.275		32.800	13
CREATH	SYDNEY	8.900	7	8.900	8	8.625		9.000		35.425	10

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Texas East Gymnastics girls shine at District Championships!

November 8, 2010 -

Level 3 team from Texas East Gymnastics finished with a bang at the District Championships! We are extremely proud of the girls efforts and we look forward to seeing them grow and learn new skills to get ready for the Rose City Classic hosted by TEG in March! Level 3 team members are as follows: Whitney Davis, Kaylee Mitchell, Brooklyn Peterson, Samantha Proctor, Callie Selman, Joy Standefer, Audrey Baugh, Lilly Morris, Ruby Timmons, Addison Campbell, and Chloe Carl. Watch out for these girls who are already training for Level 4!

After competing at the District Championships at Metroplex Gymnastics in Allen, Texas, we are thrilled to announce that the Level 4 team has qualified 100% to the North State Championships in Euless, Texas. We wish them the best of luck! Team members are: Abby Stainback, Jaycee Morton, Michelle Potter, Aidan Sheffield, Lexi Dziedzic, Ceilie Crawford, Lynley Lawhon, Emma Winebarger, and Zoe Bates.

The Level 5 girls are off to WOGA in Frisco, Texas for the North State Meet. These girls have put in the numbers and worked hard all year for this meet! Texas East Gymnastics wishes them all good luck! Team members are: Sierra Reynolds, julia Conflitti, Macy Parsley, Tori Atwood, Makynlee Smith, Christian Wright, Sydney Creath, and Hadley McCormick.

The Level 6 team just finished with North State and we are happy to announce that 100% of our team has qualified for the State Championships in Austin, Texas at Capital Gymnastics! They are extremely excited to perform in Austin. Some of the highlights from the North State meet: Allison Conflitti won the gold medal on vault, Jillian Bradford won 5th on bars, Mahayla Mitchell was 3rd on beam, and Aubree Gardiner was 9th in the All Around! The team won 10th in the North State! Congratulations girls! We are so proud!

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The A-Train Returns Home Caring Gold

Four level 10 gymnasts from Texas East Gymnastics competed in the National Championships this past weekend. Coach Parsley said, “This competition has never been held in Texas before so it almost didn’t feel like Nationals since we didn’t have to get on a plane.“ There was however lots of training, competition, standing around on concrete, sadness, joy and most of all excitement and anticipation right up to the last beam routine!

You see, for two of the four TEG gymnasts this competition was more than just another meet. In fact, this was their last meet; at least until they go off to college. Morgan Key of Nacogdoches will be headed west to the University of Alaska and Alaina Johnson of Tyler will be headed east to the University of Florida. Despite the immense distance between them the girls vow to stay up with each other’s success.

Morgan brought home a silver medal for her outstanding balance beam performance as well as a 5th place finish on the floor. All the while coach Paul Stokles from Alaska looked on! His advice to his new recruit after the meet was “Go home and study hard for your finals! And stay healthy!” Coach Parsley knew Alaska was a good fit for Morgan when she returned from her official visit last August saying “I didn’t even want to come home!” Morgan is a hard worker and has a big heart. She will surely be missed here in Tyler.

Her teammate Alaina will also be missed. Alaina was an Elite gymnast the last 4 years and also competed in the 2008 Olympic trials where she placed 12th. For her Senior year Alaina decided to allow her body a small break and stepped back to level 10 competition, a common trend from most Elites. Alaina was ready to compete alongside her TEG teammates and really take in every bit of fun she could. Fun is fun, but when it comes time to compete the A-Train has what it takes. This weekend at Nationals Alaina was on beam first and put in a solid 9.5 performance followed by a 9.625 on floor, 9.7 on vault and a 9.625 on bars. After Alaina’s stuck landing on her last event coach Parsley walked to the back to look at the score postings. As fate would have it Alaina was sitting in the Gold medal position with only one possible athlete to de-rail her efforts. This athlete was no stranger; in fact it was long time friend Kymberly Jacobs of Superior Gymnastics in North Carolina. Alaina and Kymberly trained and competed together as Elites so Parsley and Johnson knew she was indeed a threat. With a bit of quick computing they knew if Kymberly scored a 9.625 or higher she would be National Champion; a 9.6 would tie them and anything less would mean Alaina had the title for herself. They nervously looked on as Kymberly saluted the judge knowing she is an accomplished beam worker but also knowing they didn’t want to give up that championship title. A wiggle here a wobble there a low dismount landing and then the score flashes……a 9.6!.....a tie, both former Elites stepping back to relax and enjoy before college will now go off to college as level 10 National Champions. There could not have been a tie between two more deserving girls.

Alaina Johnson 2010 JO Uneven Bars

Johnson interview after 1st Place finish

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Tyler’s Level 10 Gymnastics Team 2nd Best in State

Texas Women’s University hosted the Level 9 and 10 Gymnastics State Championship meet this weekend.  By days end on Saturday Texas East Gymnastics’ Level 10 team proved that they are the second best team in Texas.  The team, comprised of Erin Odom (Whitehouse), Emily Rickman (Tyler), Alaina Johnson (Tyler), Haven Hughes (Bullard) and Morgan Key (Garison) is proud of their performances and also knows that they can make huge improvements going into Regionals.   “There were uncharacteristic falls and some missed elements that definitely have to be cleaned up if these girls want to secure a spot for Nationals,” said coach Martin Parsley.  He also added, “I have no doubt that these girls can take the next step but competition in Texas is the best there is and at Regionals anything can happen.  Only the top 7 All Around spots from Regionals continue on to the National competition and when you factor in nerves, pressure and stress all of a sudden things that seem easy are strangely difficult.”
Also competing at the meet were the level 9’s from TEG, Drew Watson (Nacogdoches) and Sidney Dukes (Tyler).  Instead of advancing to a National competition like the Level 10’s, Level 9 gymnasts west of the Mississippi finish their season at the Western Championship.  Both girls are expected to advance given their placement in the All Around and events.  Sidney executed quite well on all 4 events and brought home the silver medal in the All Around.  Remembering that Texas is the most competitive state, Sidney is sitting in a nice spot going into Westerns.  Her teammate Drew will be polishing and honing her skills and combinations and will be right along side Sidney at Westerns.  

WATSON	DREW	9	9.375		9.400	5	9.250	8	8.800	10	36.825	10
DUKES	SIDNEY	9	9.275	6	9.325	6	9.500	3	9.675	2	37.775	2
RICKMAN	EMILY	10	9.475		9.000		8.675		9.350		36.500	10
ODOM	ERIN	10	9.400	6	9.050	7	9.150	7	9.425	8	37.025	7
KEY	MORGAN	10			8.000
HUGHES	HAVEN	10	8.650		8.700		8.675		8.275		34.300
JOHNSON	ALAINA	10	9.725	1	8.750		9.250	6	9.900	1	37.625	2

 

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Local Gymnasts Make Tyler Proud; even in Albuquerque!

Texas East Gymnastics now has a Level 10 regional All-Around Champion, a Level 10 regional Beam silver medalist, a Level 10 first alternate to Nationals and a Level 10 National Invitational Tournament qualifier. 
TEG spent last weekend in Albuquerque, New Mexico where their Level 10 Team performed very well.  Coach Martin Parsley has been stressing to his athletes to, “just go out there and do your job.”  Gymnastics is a very subjective sport so it is crucial for the competitors to only concentrate on things in their control.  TEG gymnasts strive hard to perform their routines in a normal fashion despite all the stress and pressure of the competition.  Erin Odom said it best after dismounting her last event, chalky hands clasped around her coach and still panting from the  clean bar set and double back tuck dismount, “I have no regrets; I did 4 normal, clean routines!”  Teammate Emily Rickman echoed the sentiment after her meet, “it feels good to have a clean meet!”
Sidney Dukes and Drew Watson watched their teammates from the stands knowing their turn was coming.  They are Level 9 gymnasts for Texas East Gymnastics and were vying for spots on their Western Championship team.  Sidney qualified clean and green as she clenched 3rd in the All Around. Her hi-light of the meet was probably her floor routine where she wowed the judges and entertained the spectators with her contagious smile and bouncy floor routine receiving a 9.8!
Drew, only 11 years old, felt all the pressure Sunday morning of her teammates’ successes as she walked into the arena with her stomach in knots so tight she wanted to throw up.  Coach Parsley again assured her, like the others, that all she had to worry about was herself.  He reinforced that she, and her skills, was good enough to qualify to Regionals and that she, and her skills, are certainly good enough to qualify to Westerns.  His words worked as Drew performed 4 steady events and became the first alternate to 2 regions for Westerns.

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Level 7 Success at State Championships

The Level 7 gymnasts from Texas East Gymnastics completed their season with several personal bests at the State Championships.  The competition was held in Frisco and featured all Level 7 gymnasts from the state of Texas.  Georgianna DePugh of Corsicanna enjoyed finishing the season with TEG and is looking forward to a long and successful career with them.  “Georgianna is a nice addition to our team and we look forward to her future,” said Coach Parsley.   At state, she had a fantastic meet scoring 9.275 on vault, 9.225 on bars, 8.775 on beam and 9.30 on floor which gave her an All-Around total of 36.575. She placed 7th overall in her age group. Way to go Georgianna! Kinzie Creath of Tyler put all her hard work together and came out shining at State. She scored a personal best on vault with a 9.45 and placed 5th. Along with a great vault, she scored 9.15 on bars, 9.025 on beam and a 9.075 on floor giving her an All-Around score of 36.675 and placing 6th overall in her age group. We at TEG are proud of both girls and look forward to watching their progress through the summer as they take on bigger challenges.

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Sidney Dukes Named Best of the West

Sideney Dukes, Level 9 gymnast from Texas East Gymnastics traveled to Des Moines, Iowa for the Western Gymnastics Championships.  That means that she, and other gymnasts west of the Mississippi who qualified top 6 in their respective Regional Championships all met in this “semi-national” meet to see who really is the best of the west!
Turns out “the best of the west” is right here in little old Tyler Texas!  Sidney Dukes, daughter of Susan and Rory of Tyler, proved to be the best tumbler and dancer at Level 9.  She flipped, spun, pirouetted and twisted her way to balanced, stuck landings with such a smile and a twinkle in her eye that allowed the judges to award her a 9.45 and that was better than everyone else in Iowa!  Likewise, Sidney flip flopped, back tucked, leaped and round-off full twisted her way to the second highest beam score of the meet and took the silver medal.
Traveling with Sidney was teammate Drew Watson.  Drew was the first alternate to her Regional team and was available in the case of injury or no show of any of her Regional teammates.  While the team was in tact and healthy for competition Drew still enjoyed being a part of the excitement by cheering and encouraging everyone. 
With all the hours of sacrifice and training these high level gymnasts partake in one of the nicest pay offs is being able to travel the US and possibly other continents too.  Sidney and Drew traveled to Nevada, New Mexico and Iowa this year alone; all for gymnastics related events.  While there, parents and coaches alike feel it is important that everyone take in the sights and history of the area; after all, why else would anyone “vacation” in Des Moines, Iowa right?  The girls enjoyed a new outdoor sculpture museum in Des Moines as well as the science center.  They were able to take in an Iowa Cubs triple A baseball game where they witness a marriage proposal on the big screen and even made it to the famed Des Moines Farmer’s Market before catching their flight home! 
Level 10 will be here before these girls know it and coach Parsley feels they will be ready to attack the new level.
Scores
Vault 8.9
Bars 8.375
Beam 9.55 Placed 2nd
Floor 9.45 Placed 1st

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3 Times GOLD for Texas East Gymnastics

This weekend in Coppell the Level 8 girl’s gymnastics team from Texas East Gymnastics competed in the State Championships.  As the name of the competition implies this meet was for every Level 8 female gymnast in the state of Texas.  The girls were divided into age groups and competition began. 
Texas East Gymnastics began the meet Saturday with Sarah Shaffer of Tyler and Kortlyn Hill of Flint.  Vault was their first event and Kortlyn scored a very nice 9.65 with a Yurchenko back pike.  In gymnastics, as in other sports with human judges, scores have a way of escalating as the competition goes on so while Coach Martin Parsley was very pleased with Kortlyn’s Vault score he was suspect as to if the score would “hold up.”  Rightly so though, it did and by night’s end Kortlyn Hill or Flint was the Level 8 Vaulting Champion!  This accomplishment is far more gratifying for Kortlyn and her coaches because they recall how she began the season on Vault.  Coach Shelly Dalene says, “Kortlyn rolled her ankle prior to the team’s kickoff evaluation competition in December and getting it back in shape was not an easy thing.  When you Vault it requires full trust of your lower extremities to support you so it took Kortlyn quite some time to be able to Vault to her potential again----but now look, a State Champion!”
Kortlyn’s teammate Sarah Shaffer Vaulted quite well herself, she scored a 9.55 and place 4th.  She placed 8th on Floor and in the All Around with a fabulous 30.025. 
As the sun rose on Sunday Team TEG headed back into the gym with Savannah Maradiaga of Tyler and Angela Rogers of Whitehouse.  Knowing the strength of his girls coach Parsley was inwardly hopefully about not 1 but 2 more gold medals.  Since Angela has very long, pretty, straight lines and is also unbelievably powerful so Parsley was banking on a good Floor performance from her and she delivered with a 9.65 to take gold.  Angie’s teammate Savannah is equally as talented on the Uneven Bar apparatus.  She was up relatively late in the meet which usually works to your advantage but Savannah proved she didn’t need any help at all.  Savannah smoothly swung around the Bar and stuck a landing which forced the judges to award her an astounding 9.8 and got her gold. 

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Danica Abanto Earns GOLD as Level 7 Gymnast

Texas East Gymnast Danica Abanto of Tyler finished her Level 7 gymnastics career in Frisco last weekend.  Level 7 gymnasts from east to west and north to south in Texas gathered at WOGA to battle out the best of the best on Vault, Bars, Beam, Floor and the All Around. 
While Danica is just a wee of a thing she certainly fits the saying about “big things coming in small packages!”  Coach Parsley says, “she is very strong and best of all she has fast twitch muscles.  That makes for a “punchy” tumbler and quite often those are the winners. The downfall of that type of gymnast is that sometimes their body moves quite a bit faster than their brain so we really train spotting and awareness, kind of like a cat.” 
We borrowed our team motto this year from the PX90 workout tapes, it is to “do our best and forget the rest.”  In gymnastics competitions the judge’s opinion is completely out of the competitor’s control so we just focus on doing our skills the best we can and being pleased with that.  Danica did just that, using her que words and focus she performed her way to the first place podium for Bar awards and third place podium for the All Around. 
Danica and her coaches are looking forward to increasing her skill repertoire this summer and to a fantastic Level 8 season next year.
Scores:
Vault  9.575  4th
Bars    9.7     1st
Beam  9.5     6th
Floor    9.475  5th
All Around   38.250  3nd

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Tyler Gymnasts swing by Sulphur LA. On Way to WOGA Classic in Plano

Optional gymnasts from Texas East Gymnastics traveled to Sulphur, Louisiana for some sea food gumbo and to do gymnastics.  The meet was small and hosted several gyms TEG is not used to competing against.  It was nice to get away from the usual competition and see who else is out there said coach Parsley. 
Next they competed in Plano at the World Olympic Gymnastics Academy Classic.  Coach Parsley knows his gymnasts’ fiercest competitors are in his own back yard---Dallas.  In general, Texas is the world’s hot spot for gymnastics and more particular than that we can say Plano since the last two All Around female Olympic gymnasts have been from the WOGA gym in Plano.
TEG was not intimidated though, they competed well thanks to strong preparations and their hard work shone through in the form of gold, silver and bronze metallic hardware! 
Also competing at this international competition were teams from Australia, Turkey, Ukraine, Mexico, Japan and even Canada!  When asked if it felt “wrong” to be in the US when the Olympics were taking place back home the gymnasts and coaches unanimously said “YES!”  They are traveling home Sunday and will likely be a part of the festivities in one way or another.  The TEG gymnasts enjoy the opportunity to make friends with kids from all over the world who go into the gym and work hard everyday just like they do but on the other side of the planet!  Sport is universal.

Gumbo Cup

LAST NAME	FIRST NAME	LEVEL	VAULT	PL	BARS	PL	BEAM	PL	FLOOR	PL	A.A.	PL
HUGHES	HAVEN	10	8.55		6.75		8.25		0		23.55	7
KEY	MORGAN	10	9.3	2	8.2	4	9.375	1	9.1	3	35.975	2
ODOM	ERIN	10	9.575	1	9.375	1	9.175	2	9.3	1	37.425	1
WATSON	DREW	9	9.2	2	8.825	3	8.275	2	9.15	2	35.45	2
DUKES	SIDNEY	9	9.625	1	9.55	1	9.475	1	9.575	1	38.225	1
RODGER	ANGELA	8	9.55	1	8.95	3	8.925		9.55	1	36.975	3
MARADIAGA	SAVANNA	8	8.85	4	9.725	1	9.5	1	9.25	3	37.325	2
HILL	KORTLYNN	8	9.4	2	9.475	1	9.025	3	9.525	1	37.425	2
SHAFFER	SARAH	8	9.6	1	9.475	1	9.225	1	9.5	2	37.8	1

WOGA CLASSIC

LAST NAME	FIRST NAME	LEVEL	VAULT	PL	BARS	PL	BEAM	PL	FLOOR	PL	A.A.	PL
ABANTO	DANICA	7	9.400	10	9.575	2	9.100	10	9.625	6	37.700	6
HILL	KORT	8	9.300	4	9.550	10	9.125		9.525	8	37.500	7
SHAFFER	SARAH	8	9.450	2	9.825	1	9.075		9.250	5	37.600	3
MARADIAGA	SAVANNA	8	8.600	8	9.525	3	9.300	3	8.700		36.125	8
ROGERS	ANGELA	8	9.500	2	8.050		9.450	2	9.775	1	37.775	2
DUKES	SIDNEY	9	8.650	6	9.050	4	9.200	3	8.650	12	35.500	4
WATSON	DREW	9	9.250	2	8.400	8	8.850	7	9.000	7	35.500	4
ODOM	ERIN	10	9.000	7	2.000		8.650	5	9.250	3	28.900	8
RICKMAN	EMILY	10	9.400	1	8.350	2	9.250	1	8.700	7	35.700	2
HUGHES	HAVEN	10	8.200	9	8.650	5	7.250	10	7.750	9	31.850	9
KEY	MORGAN	10	8.800	5	7.850	9	9.175	1	9.300	4	35.125	5

Emily Rickman, Sidney Dukes, Savanna Maradiaga, Sarah Shaffer, Danica Abanto-Tyler; Kortlyn Hill-Flint; Erin Odom, Angela Rogers-Whitehouse; Drew Watson –Nacogdoches; Haven Hughes-Bullard; Morgan Key-Garrison

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Texas East Gymnastics Wins “BIG” at Las Vegas Invitational

The entire Optional Team from Texas East Gymnastics traveled to Las Vegas, Nevada to participate in the Lady Luck Invitational.  This team didn’t need luck, they had skills!  A total of 17 gold medals were won and 5 of those were in the All Around competition and 1 was the Level 10 Team Championships! 

The Level 10’s from TEG are Emily Rickman (Tyler), Erin Odom (Whitehouse), Morgan Key (Garrison) and Haven Hughes (Bullard).  These girls had the opportunity to watch a college competition prior to their meet and brought that same energy and enthusiasm to their routines.  They worked hard and supported each other all the way to first place in their age groups and the team competition.  The team gave Haven Hughes the trophy as a congratulations to her for her hard work and perserverance through some trying times lately.

The Level 9 team comprised of Drew Watson (Nacadoches) and Sydney Dukes (Tyler) also competed well and took 3rd and 4th in the All Around respectively.  This is the first year for both girls to compete this level and perform their new twisting flip combinations in front of judges.
The Level 8’s from TEG are Sarah Shaffer and Savanna Maradiaga (Tyler), Kortlyn Hill (Flint) and Angela Rogers (Whitehouse).  Angela stood out on the team taking gold on Beam, Floor and the All Around.  Kortlyn performed well on Vault while Savanna and Sarah both put in nice Bar routines with Savanna taking gold.

The final member of the TEG Optional team is Danica Abanto of Tyler.  She is a their Level 7 and swept her age group with golds on Vault, Bars and the All Around, silver on Floor and Bronze on Beam.  This is Danica’s first year as an optional gymnast and her future looks quite bright.

While in Las Vegas the Team bonded while touring the Hoover Dam.  “Wooow” was probably the word heard over and over again on that outing.  Next, the team bonded while bouncing in a trampoline gym.  Of particular interest to the gymnasts this gym that was covered with 66 trampolines, they were wall to wall over the floor and 45 degrees up the wall too!  The girls were quite literally “all over the place.”  Of course, a trip to Vegas would not be complete without taking in a show,  naturally then the Texas East Gymnasts were quite impressed with Cirque de Solei’s production of “O”. 

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Level 8 Gymnastics Team First Place in Houston

The Level 8 gymnasts from Texas East Gymnastics brought home the 1st place trophy this weekend from the Ricky Deci Invitational in Katy.  Champions Gymnastics hosted the competition in memory of their fallen gymnast, Ricky Deci.  Ricky was an outstanding gymnast who always strived for excellence, he was a strong Christian and was full of life when he suddenly passed away at the age of 13.  This competition honors his memory and attitude and helps fund the annual Deci gymnastics camp.

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Level 5 - 1st Place

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Level 3, 4 & 5 Achievement Teams

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Local Gymnast Hits National Scene - Again

Tyler’s own Alaina Johnson performed in front of 11,000 cheering fans that filled the American Airline Center to see her along with returning Beijing Olympians compete for the USA national title.

Dallas hosted the Visa Championships this weekend for Men’s, Women’s and Rhythmic Gymnastics, Power Tumbling and Trampoline and Acrobatic Gymnastics. The events took place in conjunction with USA Gymnastics’ National Congress which is a convention for coaches nation wide to continue their gymnastics education. It took the Sheraton hotel, Dallas Convention Center and the American Airline Center to house everything and no doubt the American Airline Center was filled with plenty of east Texans cheering a local hero on! Alaina said, “It was very assuring to hear little “go Alaina”-s coming from all over the arena. I knew they were there for me and that helped me do my best.”

Texas East Gymnastics had 100 people in t-shirts encouraging their very own Alaina Johnson (nick named the A-Train) to “drive the “A-Train” home”! Despite a few obstacles along the way Alaina did just that, by the end of the two day competition the A-Train sat in 9th place overall, qualifying her to the National Team for the second year in a row. Not only that but her outstanding Bar and Floor routines placed 8th and she was awarded a medal for each of those! The individual event medals are a career first for Alaina at the USA Championships.

The very near future for Alaina and her National Team members is a September training camp and selection to the World Championships in London, England in October as well as World Cup Competitions in both Germany and Switzerland. Coach Martin Parsley says, “I think the A-Train’s next stop is Europe!”

Key and Odom, Gymnastics State Champions

The level 9 and 10 gymnasts from Texas East Gymnastics competed in Coppell this weekend (April 4, 2009) at the State Championships. Each participant must meet a minimum All-Around score to qualify to the Regional Championships and TEG is proud to announce that 100% of their Level 9’s and 10’s qualified for Regionals! Morgan Key of Nacogdoches and Erin Odom of Whitehouse, both level 10’s, did more than just qualify…they came away as the Beam and Vault champions respectively! Morgan Key will admit surprise at her accomplishment since Beam is not her favorite event but is quite proud to see her hard work pay off. Morgan’s teammate Erin “Vaulted” her way to a gold medal. Unlike her teammate though, Vault is Erin’s favorite event. She enjoys being explosive and powerful, and flipping and twisting her way to a stick! Level 9 gymnasts Apryl Hansen (Tyler), Emily Rickman (Tyler) and Haven Hughes (Bullard) did an equally nice job. Apryl showed solid mental toughness and scored an impressive 9.45 on Beam. Emily and Haven both came home with silver medals on Beam and Bars respectively and were quite close snatching the gold! Everyone’s job now is to clean up the little bitty bent knees and flexed feet, to practice tumbling higher and sticking landings. The next competition is Regional’s where every gymnast will by vying for the coveted top 7 places in the All Around, only those few girls, literally the best of the best, will go on to their Western Championship or National Championship competition. The TEG gymnasts and their qualifying All Around scores and places are: Level 10 – Erin Odom – 37.075 - 10th , Morgan Key – 37.725 – 5th Level 9 – Emily Rickman – 37.850 – 3rd, Haven Hughes – 35.925 – 6th , Apryl Hansen – 34.00 – 12th

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Level 7 Success at State Championships

The Level 7 gymnasts from Texas East Gymnastics completed their season with several personal bests at the 2009 State Championships. The competition was held in Frisco and featured all Level 7 gymnasts from the state of Texas. Georgianna DePugh of Corsicanna enjoyed finishing the season with TEG and is looking forward to a long and successful career with them. “Georgianna is a nice addition to our team and we look forward to her future,” said Coach Parsley. At state, she had a fantastic meet scoring 9.275 on vault, 9.225 on bars, 8.775 on beam and 9.30 on floor which gave her an All-Around total of 36.575. She placed 7th overall in her age group. Way to go Georgianna! Kinzie Creath of Tyler put all her hard work together and came out shining at State. She scored a personal best on vault with a 9.45 and placed 5th. Along with a great vault, she scored 9.15 on bars, 9.025 on beam and a 9.075 on floor giving her an All-Around score of 36.675 and placing 6th overall in her age group. We at TEG are proud of both girls and look forward to watching their progress through the summer as they take on bigger challenges.