After two years of existence, Stars and Stripes Gymnastics Academy leapt into Junior Olympic competition this year.
The three competition teams not only met owners Becky Foster and Cassie Davis? modest expectations, but vaulted past them.
‘We wanted to be successful, but we didn’t know what to expect,? said Davis. ?(Last year) we would compete against five teams. Now we go to a (Junior Olympic) meet and there are 15 teams.
Stars and Stripes fielded teams in Levels 4-6. During their ten season events, Stars and Stripes garnered five first place finishes, three third place and one blue ribbon day.
?(The Junior Olympic) competition is more of a college bound program. This will get them to the level they need to be at for competing on the college level,? said Davis.
The members of each Junior Olympic competition team put in 14-16 hours a week during the season, which ran from Oct. to May.
‘Coach Nathan (Davis) and Cassie (Davis) poured their heart and soul into the teams,? said Brian Foster, co-owner of Stars and Stripes.
Individually, the girls? stars shined just as bright as the teams.
On the level 4 team, Emma McLean, 8, had a season high vault score of 9.75; Haley Ferer, 9, was number one all-around gymnast in every meet except for one; Emilee Incammicia, 9, helped the team on the balance beam; and Brook-Lynn Rudolph, 9, who only participated in one meet, but took second in the all-around.
The Level 5 team featured the largest number of competitors from Stars and Stripes and took eighth place at the state competition in Traverse city on May 13-15.
Jacquelyn Yates, who at age 7 is the youngest competitor for Stars and Stripes, was eighth in the state all-around and fifth on the bars for her age group; Leah West, 9, was eighth in all-around and ninth in bars at states for her age group; Madison Orr, 9, was second in her age group in the vault and fourth in the all-around; Melissa Vanderwege, 10, was second in her age group on the bars and third in the all-around; Carlin Delisi, 11, ranked fourth on the bars at the state meet amongst her peers and seventh in the all-around; Kristina Poore, 11, was second in her age group at states in the all-around standings and finished third in the vault; and Kendra Lampier, 12, was a state champion in the vault and finished third in the all-around standings for her age group.
The Level 6 team from Stars and Stripes took ninth place overall in the state finals held on May 1 in Southgate. Unlike most of the teams they faced, the Stars and Stripes Level 6 did not have the luxury of picking which scores represented them as they only had three competitors.
Paige Locher, 13, was the state champ in the floor exercise and finished fourth in the all-around for her age group; Dannielle Benway, 14, finished second in the floor exercise, which helped her finish second in the all-around standings at states for her age group; and Ashley Raschke finished eighth in the all-around standings thanks to a fifth place finish in the vault.