Houston Meet Draws World Athletes

HOUSTON MEET DRAWS WORLD ATHLETES

Top gymnasts from around the world gathered at the George Brown Convention Center March 4–7 for the 16^th Annual Houston International Invitational. Among those competing were the trampoline and tumbling team (T & T) and the men’s gymnastics team from Eagle’s Wings Athletics (EWA) in Allen.

Several members of EWA’s T & T team took part in the synchronized trampoline competition. Cole Kirby and Wyatt Sharp were right in sync, and came away as the Level 7 winners. In the Level 9 division, Rebecca Clouthier and Hannah Green won a silver medal, while Caden Kirby and Isaac Rowley won bronze. Coming in second place for Level 6 were Caeley Black and Tyler Dunning.

Cole Kirby and Dunning also earned gold medals in individual events in the 9 and 10 year-old group. Kirby won first on double mini in the Level 7 division, and placed second on trampoline. Dunning won his gold in Level 5 tumbling, and added a silver medal for Level 6 trampoline, and a bronze for Level 7 double mini.

In the Level 9 age 11-12 division, Rowley took second on double mini, while Caden Kirby took third. Rowley also took third on trampoline.

In the 15 and over group, Bryan Bashrum earned two bronze medals – Level 10 double mini and Level 9 trampoline. Hannah Green and Kelsey Dock took second and third, respectively, on Level 9 double mini. Sara Stewart competed level 7 tumbling where she earned a silver medal for second place.

Level 10’s Melissa Courtad and Sydney Wendt won bronze medals. Courtad earned hers on trampoline in the 17 and over age group, while Wendt, in the age 13-14 group, earned third on tumbling and trampoline.

Brittany Stout won second place in level 8 tumbling and Macey Levine took silver medals on both Level 7 double mini and Level 5 tumbling.

The EWA men’s gymnastics team also had their day at the Invitational. Level 7 Cole Wilhelm won second place on high bar with a score of 14.8, and tied for second on vault (14.4). Out of the 15 competitors in the age 12 and over group, he place fifth all-around (83.0). Drew Huck and Christopher Bowling competed in the age 10-11 division, with 56 other athletes. Huck took sixth place on pommel horse, tied for eighth on vault, and tied for ninth on floor exercise to earn ninth place all-around (85.3).

Level 8 Chandler Guvernator was one of 43 gymnasts in the age 12 and over division. He tied for eighth place on pommel horse and eleventh place all-around (66.5).

Cameron Lake, Level 9, tied for 12^th place on floor exercise out of the 78 competitors in his age group.

Johann Handszer and Evan Fitzgerald competed Level 10 in the age 14-15 group. Handszer tied for fifth place on floor exercise (13.7), earned sixth on pommel horse (13.5), tied for eighth on still rings, and tenth on parallel bars and high bar to place sixth all-around (78.2). Fitzgerald placed tenth on vault out of the 48 competitors. On high bar in the age 16-18 division, Justin Muenz earned the seventh spot and Logan Doughty tied for ninth, out of the 57 athletes competing.

Tumbling at Trevino’s

TUMBLING AT TREVINO’S

The Trampoline and Tumbling (T & T) team competed at Trevino’s and brought home 19 medals. Bryan Bashrum, in the age 15-16 division, brought home gold medals for level 9 tumbling and trampoline, and a silver medal for Level 10 double mini.

Several athletes competed Level 7, all earning bronze medals. Wyatt Sharp earned his on double mini in the 9 – 10 year-old group. Morgan Johnson and Charlotte Pearce also earned theirs on double mini, Pearce in the age 13-14 group, and Johnson in the 15 and over division. Pearce’s other bronze was on trampoline, while Veronica Prior took bronze on trampoline in the 11-12 year-old division.

Level 6 Kylie Harris won first place for tumbling and second on trampoline in the 9-10 group. Also in that age group, Caeley Black won gold on trampoline, and Wyatt Sharp took silver on tumbling. Tyler Dunning and Gaby Williams earned silver in the age 11-12 group. Dunning earned his on trampoline and Williams earned hers on tumbling and double mini.

Black also competed Level 5 tumbling, where she took first place in her age group. Macy Levine earned first on tumbling in the age 11-12 division.

Abigail Stewart placed third in Level 4 trampoline and Level 2 tumbling.

Trampoline and Tumbling Winners in Lubbock

TRAMPOLINE AND TUMBLING WINNERS IN LUBBOCK

EWA’s Trampoline and Tumbling (T & T) team competed in the 2010 Extreme Winter Classic held February 13 in Lubbock. Mary Rossi competed Junior elite on double mini, earning a bronze medal there, to go with her gold medal from Level 10 trampoline in the age 15-16 group. In the Level 10, age 17 and over division, Melissa Courtad won first place on the trampoline, and teammate Emily Beasley won second. Beasley also placed first on tumbling.

In the 13 and 14 year-old group, Sydney Wendt won Level 10 trampoline and tumbling, and took third for level 9 double mini. Brittany Stout won Level 8 tumbling.

Hannah Green, competing Level 9 in the 15 and over division, earned gold on double mini and silver on trampoline. Sarah Stewart won Level 7 tumbling and took second on Level 8 double mini.

For the boys, Cole Kirby took two golds (Level 7 trampoline and Level 6 tumbling) and a bronze (Level 7 double mini) in the age 9-10 group.

Caden Kirby and Isaac Rowley competed Level 9 in the age 11-12 group, where Kirby won double mini and took third on trampoline, while Rowley took silver on trampoline and bronze on double mini.

Brian Schmidt, in the age 15-16 division, won two silver medals – Level 10 trampoline and Level 9 double mini.

The T & T team at EWA is coached by Amy McDonald, Josh Williams, and Bret Stout.

Congrats Mary

Mary Rossi from the EWA Trampoline & Tumbling Team had the opportunity to travel to Sacramento, California with Coach Amy for the 2010 Trampoline & Tumbling Olympic Development Team Qualification Camp. Mary spent three days training with national team coaches, proving to them that she was physically and mentally ready to be on the Olympic Development Team. Mary did a great job and hit both of her routines in the competition that was held on the final day of the camp. Based on her physical abilities and the competition at the camp, Mary was placed on the 2010 Trampoline & Tumbling Olympic Development Team. She will have the opportunity to travel to Belgium in April and compete on this team against other level 10 athletes in the world. Congratulations Mary!

Awesome Article on Coach Amy

Coach Amy attends Collin College.  They did a great article on her after her return from Russia, click here to read it!

Allen Athlete Takes Silver at Worlds

ALLEN, TX: Power tumbler Amy McDonald returned home from St. Petersburg, Russia having earned a silver medal in team competition at the 2009 World Trampoline and Tumbling (T&T) Championships. McDonald, who trains at Eagle’s Wings Athletics in Allen, was part of the four-member team representing the United States.

Going into the competition, the 25 year-old McDonald was ranked third in the U.S. for power tumbling. “She is the older, more stable, team member that the national coaches love to have around to calm and cheer the other girls during competitions,” says Kelly Taylor, leader of the congregation that McDonald attends as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

On her first day of individual competition, McDonald placed 13^th in the preliminaries (second highest on the U.S. team), with the top eight going on to event finals.

In team qualifications, her solid routines earned a score of 30.300 on her first pass and 29.0 on her second. The first pass, a straight pass (no twists), was a double layout to a double pike. Her second pass, considered the twisting pass, was a full twisting whip to a full-in pike. The U.S. came in fourth place with a total score of 183.0, behind Russia, Great Britain and Canada.

In the team finals only three of the four members of the team compete. “After prelims the tough decision had to be made as to who would compete in the team final,” says McDonald. “We all wanted to get a medal.” McDonald, having competed with the other girls for years, knew their strengths and her own.

“I was the team captain and I knew that this decision was not going to be easy, but I knew my teammates were the ones that needed to compete, so I made the decision to step down and take my place as the team leader from the sidelines,” she continued. “I never expected to step down from the last competition of my career but I knew that it was what I was meant to do. I will never regret that decision.”

In team finals, the U.S team moved up to take second place, while a gold medal went to the home team, Russia. All four members of the U.S. team received a silver medal.

“This was a great experience for me,” added coach Bret Stout, “to see

the USA Team come from behind to take silver, and to see your athlete

make the decision and sacrifice that helped the team achieve this goal

was one of the most rewarding, if not the most rewarding moment in my

coaching career.”

McDonald, who also won silver in the 2005 World team finals and gold in the 2007 World team finals, has retired from competition. She

travels around North Texas judging tumbling competitions and has been offered the head tumbling coach position at Eagle’s Wings Athletics.

Allen Athlete Off to World Championships

McDonald, who trains at Eagle’s Wings Athletics (EWA), is a member of the Senior National Team. The U.S.A. delegation competing in the event is made up of the top four female tumblers in the country. This will be McDonald’s third time to participate in the Worlds. “Amy is the oldest member of the team and provides the seasoned leadership and experience needed by her younger teammates,” said Bret Stout, EWA’s Trampoline and Tumbling (T & T) head coach.

In 2005 the USA Team won a bronze medal. In 2007 they won gold, and hope to do the same this year. “Russia is favored to win, and with the competition on their home soil they certainly have the odds in their favor,” says Coach Stout. “But the U.S. is known for upsetting Russia’s team with consistent performances.”

McDonald is currently helping coach the T & T team at EWA, where she helped produce 4 National champions, 14 Regional champions and 23 State champions this past season. She also does tumbling clinics around the country for the USA Gymnastics T & T program.

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T&T BRINGS HOME GOLD

LOCAL TUMBLERS WIN AT NATIONALS

ALLEN, TX: Over 1600 athletes converged on San Jose, California for the Trampoline and Tumbling (T & T) Junior Olympic Championships June 24-29. Eagle’s Wings Athletics (EWA), in Allen, brought home 4 National Champions, 5 additional medalists, and had 15 other athletes who finished between fourth and tenth place.

EWA owner and T & T head coach, Bret Stout, was pleased with his athletes performance. “The team performed outstanding and as a coaching staff we could not have been happier with the results,” he said.

Bailey Buescher competed against 24 other girls in the 14-year old division to take the top spot as the Level 7 Double Mini National Champion with a score of 59.30. Bryan Bashrum won Level 7 tumbling in the 15 and over age group, earning the title with a score of 59.0. Level 6 tumbler Nathan Vite, was the National Champion in the boys 15 and over division.

Ten-year old Ryan Allen earned medals on all three events. The Level 7 gymnast earned the National Championship on double mini with a 59.0, earned silver on trampoline (23.8), and bronze on tumbling (54.3).

Also earning bronze in tumbling was Level 9 Emily Beasley (54.6) in the 15 and over group, and Level 5 Gabi D’annunzio (53.5), age 10.

Level 10 gymnast Mary Rossi took bronze on the double mini (125.6) in the 13-14-year old division. Rossi, a member of the Region 3 All Star team, helped the region reclaim its title of “Best Region in the Country” with her performance on the event.

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ELITE CHALLENGE

Congratulations to Amy McDonald for her 3rd place finish at the Elite Challenge in Power Tumbling.  Congratulations to Mary Rossi for her 3rd place finish on Double Mini at the Elite Challenge held in Ft. Smith Arkansas.