STATE COLLEGE, PA- Six of Southern Elite Gymnastics gymnasts made history June 2-4th in State College, PA by being a part of region 7’s first Xcel Regional Championships. Four of the girls competed in the Level Gold and two competed the Level Diamond. Region 7 is composed of six states—West Virginia, Virginia, New Jersey, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Delaware.
There were 400 total gymnasts participating in the regional championships. Not every gymnast is guaranteed a spot at this competition as they must qualify with a benchmark score at their state meet to be eligible to compete at this event. Each one of the girls had 20-25 kids in their age group that they competed against in Pennsylvania. This competition was tough and fierce. Competing in general is a huge accomplishment, especially since competitive gymnastics is a growing sport in West Virginia, and most notably, in the small town of Lewisburg. Southern Elite services towns an hour in each and every direction around them. They were one of the few gyms from the state at this competition.
The following girls placed at regionals:
Diamond- Ashlynn Pipkin earned 12th place on Floor and 17th place on Vault.
Gold- McKenna Wickline earned 3rd place on Vault, 2nd place on Beam, 6th on Bars, and 11th on Floor—which resulted in her earning the title of region 7’s Level Gold All Around State Champion (1st place) with an incredible score of 38.05/40 possible points.
Gold- Emily Caufield earned 14th place on Bars and 10th place on Beam.
Gold- Emma Erskine earned 11th place on Beam and 12th place on Floor.
Gold- Hailey Gardinier earned 14th place on Bars, 12th place on Vault, 8th place on Beam, and 10th place All Around.
Diamond- Kaylee Wiant earned 11th place on Vault and 14th place on Floor.
Coach Taylar Sizemore was extremely proud of her girls and commented a little on each one. This is what she said about her competitors:
“McKenna’s beam routine was rock solid, and her vault was sky high! Coaches from other teams were complimenting her performance.”
“Hailey showed a lot of confidence on her bar and beam routine.”
“Ashlynn had a season high score of a 9.5 on her diamond floor routine.”
“Emily had amazing routines that were performed cleanly and confidently.”
“Emma gave 110% effort and got her highest all-around score of the season.”
“Kaylee had a sky-high vault and all eyes were on her rock themed floor routine. Her tumbling and dance demanded everyone’s attention.”
“I’m very proud of all of my girls’ performances. Their hard work all season showed through at regionals. They represented themselves, me, and the state of West Virginia very well,” Sizemore concluded graciously.
