Local gymnasts mine precious medal in The Golden State
Members of the Bartlesville Gymnastics Club participated in the California Grand Invitational earlier this month.
Photo provided
By Mike Tupa
BARTLESVILLE AREA SPORTS REPORT
Short of postseason competition, the stage doesn’t get much bigger for the girls of the Bartlesville Gymnastics Club than the recent California Grand Invitational.
The petite warriors — armed with rhythmic grace, sharply-toned muscles, exquisite body control and discipline mental toughness — journeyed to Anaheim (faraway from the Los Angeles fire inferno) to test their skills against top-notch competitors throughout the nation.
All things considered, the scrappy girls from small Bartlesville made a king-sized impact.
Two BGC athletes won the All-Around championship in their divisions (Rylee Laxson, XCEL Gold, Youth) and Alia Calhoun (XCEL Silver, Youth A).
All-Around runner-ups from the BGC included: Raynie Ketcher (Level 10, Junior), Lyndsey Lief (Level 9, Junior), and Brielle Vernon (XCEL Silver, Child).
Haylee Clark (XCEL Gold, Child) earned third place All-Around.
“Our athletes delivered an outstanding performance, showcasing their talents and resilience,” said BGC Executive Director Lorrie Bertolet. “Their great work ethic and attention to detail allowed them to hold their own in this prestigious competition.”
As mentioned earlier, not only holding their own but rising to elite feats.
Level 10 battler Ketcher burst to second-place finishes on the vault, uneven bars and floor exercise and third on the balance beam on her way to compile 37.15 All-Around points.
“Raynie … had the greatest competition of her career,” Bertolet said. She is clearly becoming the best gymnast to come out of Bartlesville Gymnastics.”
First-year Level 10 competitor Kinlee Littleford “hit four for four routines, which is unheard of at this level,” Bertolet said. Kinlee caught her release move (piked Jaeger) on the bars, which was an incredible moment for her and her team.”
Lief rotated and spun her way to gold on the bars.
At Level 8, Harper Maudlin mined gold on the balance beam (9.45).
As the All-Around winner in their competitions, Laxson and Calhoun brought home Golden Mickey Mouse Ears.
Vernon powered to gold on both the bars and floor in her group.
The California invitational was hosted by Olympian Amanda Borden, who captained the 1996 U.S. Gymnastics squad to the team championship.
Bertolet proclaimed the long trip a full success.
“Many goals were met, some hard lessons learned but everyone left as a unified team,” she said.
Bertolet also lavished praise on BGC coaches Rachel Coyle and Abi Matthews, who “always go above and beyond. … Bartlesville is very lucky to have such high level coaching.”
Following are the California Grant Invitational All-Around results for BGC athletes plus top-six finishes on individual events.
LEVEL 7 (Senior A)
Chloe Canipe: All-Around, 12th (33.275).
__________
LEVEL 8 (Junior)
Harper Maudlin: All-Around, 4th (36.525); Beam (1st, 9.425).
Trinity Stephens: All-Around, 7th (35.875); Vault (4th, 9.0).
Hayden Littleford: All-Around, 9th (33.875).
__________
LEVEL 9 (Junior)
Lyndsey Lief: All-Around, 2nd (34.65); Bars (1st, 9.225), Beam (3rd, 8.175), Floor (6th, 8.575).
__________
LEVEL 10 (Junior)
Raynie Ketcher: All-Around, 2nd (37.15); Vault (2nd, 9.5), Bars (2nd, 9.25), Beam (3rd, 9.15), Floor (2nd, 9.25).
Kinlee Littleford: All-Around, 4th (34.85); Beam (4th, 8.9).
Lydia Pierce: All-Around, 9th (32.9); Bars (6th, 8.45).
___________
XCEL GOLD (Youth)
Rylee Laxson: All-Around, 1st (37.25); Vault (4th, 9.05), Bars (6th, 9.275), Beam (3rd, 9.425), Floor (1st, 9.5).
Hadley Everitt: All-Around, 5th (36.6); Vault (5th, 9.0), Bars (5th, 9.3); Beam (4th, 9.1).
__________
XCEL GOLD (Child)
Haylee Clark: All-Around, 3rd (37.0); Bars (3rd, 9.475), Beam (3rd, 9.35).
Andi McMillin: All-Around, 5th (36.6); Bars (1st, 9.6).
Brinly Everitt: All-Around, 6th (36.5); Beam (4th, 9.275).
Aurora Brown: All-Around, 8th (36.45); Beam (5th, 9.2).
__________
XCEL SILVER (Child)
Brielle Vernon: All-Around, 2nd (37.675); Vault (3rd, 9.125), Bars (1st, 9.65), Beam (2nd, 9.45), Floor (1st, 9.45).
Sophia Johnson: All-Around: 4th (37.275); Vault (1st, 9.5), Bars (2nd, 9.525), Beam (6th, 8.975), Floor (4th, 9.275).
___________
XCEL SILVER (Youth A)
Alia Calhoun: All-Around, 1st (37.525); Vault (1st, 9.35), Bars (6th, 9.4), Beam (2nd, 9.525).