The Motions Unlimited gymnastics team pillaged and plundered through their final meet of the season in St. Petersburg, Florida at the 26th annual Gasparilla Classic Gymnastics Invitational.
The Cayman Islands were represented by 11 gymnasts, the largest group to compete for the season, who took home a pirate’s treasure chest of gleaming medals and personal bests. The seasoned “old salt” duo of Raegan Rutty and Morgan Lloyd once again showed off their moves in their Level seven and eight events. Raegan competed in both Level seven and eight, winning gold with her bar routine and placing second overall. Morgan, competing Level eight for the first time, earned gold on vault and ranked fourth place overall. Both gymnasts took home medals in every skill.
For Level three, the squad – which included Meaghan Fowler and Anais Small competing for the first time ever – took home the third place team trophy, which was as tall as 7-year-old Emmi Daykin. Emmi won a medal in all her events and placed fourth overall in her age group. Team mate Gabriella Royston had a 10th place finish. Jaiden Gilbert, also an experienced competitor, brought home more medals to add to her collection by placing 11th overall in her age group.
The boys’ team excelled in their six events with Igor Magalhaes posting top scores for quadruple fourth place rankings in floor, rings, vault and bars. The crew of level five boys – Sebastian Adapa, Jakob Neveril and Roger Cockhill – reeled in an enormous first place team trophy. Sebastian placed first overall, followed by Jakob at second and Roger rounding out the day with third. All three boys received individual trophies for their 1-2-3 ranking.
The Motions team also enjoyed meeting Olympians Alicia Sacramone and Svetlana Boguinskaia, inspiring their dreams and aspirations to succeed.
The Gasparilla Classic, named after Tampa’s favorite pirate Jose Gaspar, boasts one of the largest gymnastics meets held in the United States. This year the meet included more than 2,200 female artistic gymnasts and 550 male gymnasts, representing 19 American states and several countries such as the Bahamas, Canada, Cayman, Colombia, Jamaica, Mexico and Venezuela.
Held at the largest competition venue so far for the Motions team, Tropicana Field’s 40,000-seat domed stadium provided an impressive backdrop. The arena, the home field for Major League Baseball’s Tampa Bay Rays, is large enough for four women’s meets and one men’s competition to be going on simultaneously.
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