Gym South's

Level Two gymnastic team, made up of local girls ages 7-10, won the state

championship after an undefeated season.

The team, coached

the state championships in Cartersville.l Kaitlin Barkroot finished first

all around in the 10-year-old group, placing first on the bars and the

beam and second on the vault.

Jamie Roth

placed first all around in the nine-year-old group, placing first on the

bars, the beam and the floor, while teammmate Lena Alston placed second

all around by finishing second on the vault and bars.

Alexis Salvanera

placed second all around in the seven-year-old group with first-place

finishes on the bars and the beam. Cayla Key placed fourth all around

in the seven-year-old group and had second-place finishes on the bars

and the beam. Tori Kinnamon placed seventh all around in the seven-year-old

group, while Justine Miller placed seventh all around for the eight-year-old

group with a first-place finish on the beam.

The girls have

been practicing at Gym South from between six months to two years. They

practice twice a week for two hours and Level Two is the first level of

competition. The season starts in January and goes through May, including

seven meets in the metro Atlanta area.

The season

starts with an intrasquad meet at Gym South, which is the girls favorite

because they get to sleep over at the gym after the meet.

Gym South's

team is unusual in that most teams have 20 girls while this one only featured

seven girls. The judges take the top three scores on each event and add

them together. With only seven girls on the team there is not a lot of

leeway. Though the Level Two team's highest score this year was a 9.7,

the Level Four team scored a 10.0.

The team competes

in four events uneven bars, beam, vault and floor. These events are meant

to instruct the gymnasts on the basic skills so that at the next level

they can add to them as they get stronger and sharper.

Though the

season ended with the state championships, the girls are looking to compete

in the Georgia State Games in Augusta July 13. They will then move up

to either Level Three or Four for next season.

The girls enjoy

the sport. They like competing and like winning even better. Their advice

to those who aspire to be gymnasts is to be tough and work hard. Gymnastics

is fun but there is a lot of work to be put in.

Level Four's

team had two second all around finishers as the team finished in third

place at the state championships. Nine-year-old Shannon Escarra placed

second all around and finished first on the beam, while 10-year-old Hannah

Antley finished second all around and finished second on the bars. Antley's

teammate finished first on the beam.

For the Prep

Op team, which placed third at the state championships in Decatur, 10-year-old

Amanda Barton finished second on the floor. Casey Hill, in the 11-year-old

group, finished second all around, finishing first on the bars, second

on the vault and second on the beam. Teammate Erica Smith finished second

on the vault and the bars. Morgan Ammons, in the 13-year-old group, finished

second on the bars.

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