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Xcel Platinum: From left, Abby Dodson, Cara Siemaiszko, Laney Bottrell
TAMPA — Thirteen gymnasts from Flipstar Gymnastics participated in the Gasparilla Classic meet last weekend in Florida. Dubbed “the world’s largest gymnastics meet,” over 6,000 athletes competed.
“These girls did amazing,” said Flipstar Coach Amy Goff. “They brought home 41 medals with 24 of them being podium medals. Five Flipstar gymnasts even brought home All-Around trophies for their top podium finishes. Our teams placed at every level entered with our Xcel Silver and Xcel Platinum levels earning the Team Champion title, while the Xcel Gold Team earned the second Place Team Award.
Flipstar’s Xcel Platinum Champion Team was led by Abby Dodson who earned the second place all-around trophy for her age division. Abby had podium finishes on all events earning the Champion Runner-Up title on vault, uneven bars and floor exercise as well as third place on balance beam. Cara Siemiaszko also earned an all-around trophy for her third place podium finish. Cara earned the Champion title on vault and had a second place finish on balance beam and third on uneven bars. Laney Bottrell rounded-out the champion team earning a sixth place all-around medal.
Xcel Gold: From left, Braelynn Sanders, Oriana Hill, Maple Prescott
Three Xcel Gold competitors from Flipstar attended and each earned an all-around trophy for their podium finishes. Oriana Hill earned the Champion Runner-Up All-Around title and had all podium finishes. She earned the Uneven Bars Champion title, second on balance beam and floor exercise and third on vault. Braelynn Sanders and Maple Prescott both had third place all-around finishes. Maple earned medals on all events with a third place podium finish on uneven bars and fourth on the remaining three events. Braelynn earned the Champion Runner-Up title on vault and balance beam. We had two Ladies Gold competitors in Lauren Lloyd and Lindsay Maynard. Lindsay earned the Uneven Bars Champion title as well as third on vault for a fourth place all-around medal. Lauren had a third place podium finish on floor exercise and earned a sixth place all-around medal.
Xcel Silver: From left, Natalie Lloyd, Nola Randle, Elyse Tucker
The Xcel Silver Champion Team was led by Nola Randle who earned seventh place All-Around medal. Nola earned the Balance Beam Champion title and earned a sixth place medal on uneven bars. Elyse Tucker earned medals for third on uneven bars, seventh on balance beam and ninth on vault for a ninth place all-around award. Natalie Lloyd earned a 13th place all-around medal.
Xcel Bronze: Kylin Vanderputte, left, and Weslynn Sanders
The Xcel Bronze competitors each earned an all-around medal with Kylin Vanderputte earning sixth place and Weslynn Sanders earning 12th place in her age division. Kylin also earned medals for fourth on vault and fifth on both uneven bars and balance beam.
Xcel Ladies: Lindsay Maynard, left, and Lauren Lloyd
“We are so proud of all of these girls,” Goff said. “They walked into the huge venue of six full gyms set-up with wide eyes and lots of nerves. This was the first meet of this size and the first ‘fly-away’ meet for all of our bronze and silver girls and many of our higher level girls as well. They supported each other to get past these nerves with success as we had only one competitor fall out of 52 routines. They faced some really tough competition. This meet was a great experience for all of our gymnasts that were able to attend.
“Enjoying some Florida sunshine and family vacations were a nice bonus. This was Flipstar’s final regular season meet. Next month is the Michigan State-Championship Meet in Lowell where over 70 Flipstar gymnasts have qualified to compete.”
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