More than 40 gymnasts from Motions Unlimited in Cayman took part in the 35th Annual Gasparilla Classic Gymnastics competition on 24-26 Feb. at Tropicana Field Stadium in St. Petersburg, Florida.
This was the biggest team Motions Unlimited has sent to the event, with four boys and 39 girls entering the meet.
In all, over 6,500 athletes took part in this Gasparilla competition, which was the largest ever held.
The Cayman contingent was excited to attend as they missed the last two Gasparilla competitions due to COVID travel restrictions.
Motions coaches Kelley Paz, Alison Laidler, Kyle Perry, Miriam Schwabe and Derrick Pascal led the girls’ and boys’ teams on their quest for gold. For their first overseas competition, the level 2 girls team consisted of Brooke Bernstein, Paige Bernstein, Teana Biertumpel, Victoria Bain, Apollonia Sergedis, Leni Kuusela and Alyssa Espinosa – the youngest new members of Motions competitive team.
Other new members are the Xcel Silver girls who also competed for the first time overseas. The team consisted of Megan Fletcher, Micah Leon, Olivia Sanderson, Addy Drobac, Mia Small, Elise Delhaise and Clara Walker.
The level 3 girls consisted of Sophia Santiago, Sivaanaa Dcunha, Ava Hayward, Rommy Kling, Kamila Krupiniewicz, Jahniya McCoy, Chloe Purvis and Kira Skale. This group took home the 3rd place team trophy in the large team division, with highlights including Santiago placing 1st on bars, 3rd on beam and an impressive 3rd place in the all-around.
McCoy took home 2nd place on vault, and Skale placed 3rd on vault in her age division.
The Xcel Gold Girls consisted of Siena Clemens, Cira Beraha, Kirsten Roderick, Ella Conen, Flynn Lunt, Kayla Beck, Zoe Anderson and Lucy Butler.
This team of athletes proudly took 4th place team in the large team category, with Conen taking 2nd place in the all-around, Clemens taking 3rd in the floor exercise, and Anderson placing 2nd in the floor exercise in her first ever competition.
The Level 7 boys team consisted of Justin Spencer and Alex Hare. This was Spencers’s first Gasparilla, and he impressively took home 1st place on rings, 2nd place on pommels and 2nd place in the all-around. Rounding out the boy’s team was level 10 athlete, Karthik Adapa, who placed 1st on floor, 3rd on pommels, rings and high bar.
Closing out the end of the competition was the Xcel Platinum Girls team, consisting of Bethany Hawkins, Sophia Simpson, Georgie Hayman, Natalie Bodden, Naomi Tibbetts and Sienna Santiago.
Hawkins had one of her best performances ever, winning 1st place on bars, beam and the all around. Tibbetts placed 2nd on bars and 3rd in the all-around. Sienna Santiago also had one of her best days ever, placing 3rd on bars, 2nd on floor and 1st on beam and the all-around.
“This was one of the best years at Gasparilla for our entire team,” said coach Paz. “We are just so very thankful to be able to travel and participate again in these overseas competitions. Two years was a very long time for us to go without a competition and we are so very proud of all of our athletes and their performances.
“We are really looking forward to next season with more competiton to look forward to. I am especially proud of my coaches Alison, Miriam, Kyle and Derrick. They have done an incredible job with all of the athletes through their hard work and dedication to their athletes.”
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