Gymsport Gymnasts Place at State Competition

Gymnastics takes a lot of athletic ability, strength, concentration and grace. And the Gymsport Gems Level 4 team used those skills to take many of the top places in the state competition last month at the United Sports Training Center in Downington, Pa.

Level 4 is the compulsory level where everyone does the same routines with specific skills required on each event. The girls on the Level 4 team at Gymsport, which is located in Scott Township, have been practicing since last June and had to qualify to enter the state competition. Seven of the nine girls on the team qualified this year for states.

“These girls have come a long way,” coach Tracy Robertson said. “For some of them, it was their first competition season.”

Robertson and Brenda Nairn, both former gymnasts at the Pitt, coach Level 4 along with assistant coach, Kelsey Powell, a high school junior who took classes and competed for Gymsport for six years until a recent injury.

“The training helped with so much more than just gymnastics—good habits, healthy eating, a positive attitude, and much more,” Powell said.

During the regular season, the team practices 3 times per week for a total of about 10 hours.

“The whole group is so driven and very competitive,” Robertson said. “They come to practice extra hours during open gym times to get better. They put forth a lot of effort and it paid off.”

Katie Iwaniuk won the all-around in the 7 and under age category by receiving the highest cumulative score – a 35.575 out of 40 – in the state. She also placed in all events and earned 2nd on the vault. Katie joined Gymsport this year after recently transferring from another gymnastics school.

Additional first place winners for the March 12 event were Madison Kappeler for the 8- and 9-year-old age group on bars and MacKenzie Boyle for the 10+ age group on floor. Second place winners included Hailey Roadway, a student at Chartiers Valley Primary School, who earned second place on both bars and beam for the 8- and 9-year-old age group. MacKenzie Boyle won second for the 10+ age group on beam; and Sara Eskew received second for the 7 and under group on bars.  

Gymsport is a USASF and USAG member club and has been offering gymnastics and competitive cheerleading training for 12 years for pre-school through adult. Their 25,000-square-foot facility off Vanadium Road is outfitted with Olympic equipment, two full-size cheerleading floors, tumble tracks, resi pits, and a pre-school jungle gym.

Their competitive gymnastics and cheerleading teams have won hundreds of trophies throughout the years and Skylar Rushe recently earned first place on beam at the Level 6 state championships last weekend.

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