The Rising Stars Girls Competitive Gymnastics team won 97 medals at the 2010 AAU Gymnastics National Age Group Championships in Orlando. The competition was held July 1-3 at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex.
The event drew more than 1,300 gymnasts from around the country. Nine Rising Stars gymnasts won a total of 16 gold medals, including two All-Around national golds by Taylor Bethmann in the intermediate optional group and Dianna Sierra in Level 4.
Gold medalists were: Dianna Sierra on beam, floor and the all-around; Taylor Bethmann on bars, floor and the all-around; Lexi Twombley (Level 5) on vault and beam; Oliva Emord (Level 3) on vault and floor; Hannah Roskin (Level 3) on vault and bars; Hannah Willmott (Level 4) on vault; Johanna Holloway (intermediate optional) and Sydney MacNeill (Level 5) on bars; and Deanna Paschke (Level 7) on beam.
The team also won seventeen silver medals: Johanna Holloway on vault, beam and all-around; Caroline Lord (Level 3) on vault, bars and the all-around; Olivia Emord on beam and the all-around; Lindsay Lord (Level 5), Dianna Sierra, and Taylor Bethmann on vault; Carmen Curren (Level 3) on beam; and Level 5 gymnasts Ashley Grandovic and Haley Szabo on bars, Sydney MacNeill on floor and the all-around, and Christina Fedele on floor.
Fifteen bronze medals were earned by 14 gymnasts: Katilyn Cunningham (Level 3) won two – on bars and floor. Other bronze winners were — Level 2: Gwenn Gleek on vault; Level 3: Jackie Denker on floor, Caroline Lord on beam, Oliva Emord on bars, Carmen Curren on vault and Hannah Roskin in all-around; Level 5: Christina Fedele and Lindsay Lord on bars, Sydney MacNeill on beam, Ashley Grandovic on floor, and Lexi Twombley in all-around; Level 6: Mikaela MacNeill on vault; Level 7: Emma Paschke on floor and Deanna Paschke in all-around.
The team also brought home 32 copper medals for placing in the top half +1 of the four individual events, and another 17 copper medals for the All-Around. The copper medal winners not mentioned previously ncluded Marielena Stanescu (Level 2), Jennifer Parkinson (Level 3), Emily Willmott and Maddison McBride (Level 4), Calista Jennings (Level 5) and Elizabeth Willmott (intermediate optional).
The highest All-Around score earned by a team member was a 38.025 by Olivia Emord at Level 3. The highest single event score was a 9.875 on vault by Hannah Willmott at Level 4. In all, there were 13 girls who earned a 9.50 or above on at least one event, and nearly everyone got at least one 9.00 or above.
Our Rising Stars gymnasts were also featured in a Palm Beach Post article which can be found here: http://youthsportsdaily.palmbeachpost.com/gymnastics/2010/07/20/rising-stars-gymnasts-earn-97-medals-at-aau-meet/
Congratulations on a fantastic meet girls!
-Coach Julie
