EWA Rules at Lone Star Invite

ALLEN, TX: 28 gold medals earned two Eagle’s Wings Athletics (EWA) men’s gymnastics teams first place honors in the team competition at the Lone Star Invitational earlier this month.

Level 5
The Level 5 team led the pack with 20 golds earned by five boys. Gavin McCallister competed in the 7-8 year old group, taking first place on still rings (14.2), high bar (13.6), pommel horse/mushroom (14.6) and all-around (85.6). He tied for gold on vault (14.7) and parallel bars (13.8), and took silver on floor exercise (14.7). In the same age group, Logan Cobb earned bronze medals on rings, vault, parallel bars, and pommel horse/ mushroom.

Devan Arvidson, age 9, won the all-around with a score of 83.8. He took first place on rings (14.6), parallel bars (13.7),high bar (14.0) and tied for gold on floor (14.7). Mac Stout, also 9, tied for first place on vault with a 14.7.

Jake Sikora, the only EWA athlete in the level 5 age 10-11 division, was the rings (14.2) and pommel horse/mushroom (14.8) champion. He tied for silver on parallel bars, and earned bronze on vault.

Brian Le was the all-around champion in the 12 and over division. His first place wins on pommel horse/mushroom (15.2), floor exercise (14.6), rings (14.5), vault (14.8), and high bar (14.5) netted him 6 gold medals, including the all-around (85.6).

Andy Hoover earned silver on rings, parallel bars, and pommel horse/mushroom, and bronze on high bar and all-around. Chance Melancon took third place on rings, vault, parallel bars, and pommel horse/mushroom.

Level 6
The Level 6 team added 8 gold medals to the cache. EWA athletes were the champions of every event and the all-around in the 8-9 age division.

Nicholas Brocklesby earned half of the team’s gold medals by winning the all-around (80.10). He also won rings (14.6), vault (14.1) and pommel horse/mushroom (13.2),and took second on floor exercise and third on parallel bars. Landon Smith won floor (13.6) and parallel bars (14.1), while Quinn Maloney won high bar (13.5). Smith also took silver on rings and bronze on high bar and pommel horse/mushroom, while Maloney tied for third place on floor exercise.

Carter Frederick also competed in the age group, and earned silver on pommel horse/mushroom, vault, parallel bars and high bar, and bronze on rings.

In the 10-11 age division, Kade Cummings was consistent, and earned second place on four events (floor, rings, vault, and high bar), and third place on high bar and pommel horse/mushroom to take silver all-around. Bradley Weatherford tied for third on parallel bars.

Brian McCray, earned his gold medal on vault (14.4) and earned his silver all-around in the 12-13 age group by taking second place on rings, high bar, and pommel horse/mushroom, and third on parallel bars. Cole Carter tied for third on pommel horse/mushroom, and tied with teammate Karcen Raney for second place on floor exercise.

Level 4
Braxton Brooks, Garrett Ganakos and Ethan Tibbs competed in the age 6-7 division of Level 4. Tibbs earned silver on parallel bars and rings, and bronze on pommel horse/mushroom and all-around.

“The level 4 boys will naturally have it much tougher this season to place high in awards with only three boys - two of which are rookies,” noted Men’s team head coach, Greg Schram. “But they have great heart and dedication towards learning, having fun, and cheering each other on!”

Congrats Sabrina and Jordan

Congratulations to Sabrina Schwab and Jordan Stavrou for placing on the National Team Training Squad for team USA!  These girls have shown significant improvement at the last developmental camp and that is why they have been chosen for this awesome team!  Great Job girls, we are so proud of you!

Makenzie Interview

Makenzie Johnson was interviewed on Gymnastike.org. Here’s the video! Go Mak!

Workout Wednesday

Gymastike.org came and videoed our girls working out.  Check out their ballet and beam work!

EWA Flyers Are Soaring!

The EWA Cheer Team, the Flyers, are having an absolutely incredible year! The Flyers have participated in 4 Competitions so far this year and have placed 1st at every competition! This past weekend they competed against 8 teams and besides taking home the 1st place trophy, they received High Point honors in their division. Way to go girls! Two of our cheerleaders, Kaylan (BK) Guvernator and Lauren (Huck-A-Duck) Huck, received the WOW! Award for their performances. We are just getting started and can’t wait to see how the rest of the season plays out. We are so proud of our cheerleaders and coaches for such a fantastic start to the season!

The EWA Flyers are coached by Anthony Thomas and Dabney Eiland.

What is The Perfect Sports Drink For My Child?

What is the perfect sports drink for my child? By Laura Kopec, CNC

Actually, the best sports drink for your young athlete is clean, purified or spring water.

Sports drinks are often filled with sugars and sweeteners which can cause a sugar “high” which is followed by a sugar “crash.” An untimely crash can negatively affect your athlete at a competition.

Some sports drink contain high fructose corn syrup which can lead to tooth decay, high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, obesity, and even arthritis.

Some sports drinks contain red dyes and other food coloring chemicals that can interfere with signals from the brain needed during physical performance.

Sports drinks consider “ultimate” or “extremeness” can include ingredients that can negatively impact sex hormones.

Wait there’s more!!!…Research at the University of Maryland determined sports drinks damaged tooth enamel three to eleven times more than even soda…this study even included fitness waters as a culprit!

And energy drinks have been linked to caffeine intoxication, increased blood pressure and heart rate and even heart failure.

What about the need for electrolytes you ask?……Actually, most children do not have a need for electrolytes as a part of their daily fluid intake. Children need electrolytes in times of illness where there has been a loss of fluids such as diarrhea and vomiting.

Information provided is solely for informational purposes only. It is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Do not use this information for diagnosing or treating a health problem or disease, or prescribing of any medications or supplements. Only your healthcare provider should diagnose your healthcare problems and prescribe treatment. None of our statements or information, including health claims, articles, advertising or product information have been evaluated or approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The products or ingredients referred to are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. Please consult your healthcare provider before starting any supplement, diet or exercise program, before taking any medications or receiving treatment, particularly if you are currently under medical care. Make sure you carefully read all product labeling and packaging prior to use. If you have or suspect you may have a health problem, do not take any supplements without first consulting and obtaining the approval of your healthcare provider.

Interview on Gymnastike.org

Check out Coach Helen on Gymnastike.org!

Still to come on Gymnastike.org…..Interviews with Makenzie Johnson, Sabrina Schwab, and Jordan Stavrou, as well as Workout Wednesday…a look at the EWA Beam practice with Coach Helen! Stay tuned!

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.