The American Twisters Tim Rand Gymnastics Invitational experienced a 'Bahamian twist' recently (March 2-4), as nine members of the Bahamas Star Gymnastics (BSG) team competed impressively in the field of almost 800 athletes.
Clubs were present from the United States, Trinidad and Tobago and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and they converged at the Ft. Lauderdale Convention Center to battle for top spots.
The Bahamian team, under the leadership of Head Coach Alexander Mayet and Assistant Coach Kachara Marshall, took in a final workout session at the Park Avenue Gymnastics facility in Cooper City, Florida.
"We left home ready to compete but the session at Park Avenue fueled the team even more because they were able to workout alongside Park Avenue's elite athletes who were also competing in the Twisters' meet," commented Mayet.
The nine-member team included: Zia Joos, a Level 2 newcomer competing for the third time ever; Kyla Rolle, a Level 3 gymnast; Rachea Knowles and Sydney Wells, competing at Level 4; Caitlin Cash, covering Level 5; Athalia Swann and Kianna Dean at Level 6; Toni Johnson at Level 7; and Toneka Johnson at Level 8.
"We were able to compete across the board which allows up-close examination of USA Gymnastics (USAG) standards. We primarily compete in USAG meets so this experience helps us to improve individually and collectively as a team," commented Mayet.
Bahamas Star's team earned impressive results at the Twisters' meet.
Leading off the squad was Joos, a grade three student at Xavier's Lower School. She won medals on the vault with a 9.0 (third place), on the uneven bars (UB) with a 9.25 (second place), on the balance beam (BB) with a 8.55 (fourth place), and took the first place finish on the floor with a 9.175. The resulting all-around score of 35.975 earned her a third place finish in her division. These scores gave Joos her personal best scores in bars, beam and floor.
Queen's College student Kyla Rolle responded to the pressure by continuing the impressive showing of the BSG team with a 8.75 (ninth place) score on the vault, a bars score of 9.0 (sixth place), a beam score of 8.7 (seventh place) and a 8.825 (sixth place) on floor for an all-around score of 35.275 and a seventh place finish.
The Level 4 duo of Knowles, a Queen's College fourth grader, and Oakes Field Primary School third grader Wells posted impressive results as well. Knowles' 9.05 (14th place) on vault, 7.0 (15th place) on bars, 7.975 (13th place) on beam and an 8.250 (14th place) on floor resulted in an all-around score of 32.275, placing her at 15th out of the 30 gymnasts competing at that level.
Her Level 4 partner, Wells, improved her personal best all-around score of 35.40 achieved only a week prior at the Wolverine Classic in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Wells, like teammates Joos and Rolle, won medals in all four events, earning a 9.3 (out of a possible 10) on the uneven bars (fourth place), 9.4 on the vault (fourth place), 9.1 on the floor (sixth place) and a 8.45 on the balance beam (eighth place). The all-around score earned Wells a sixth place overall finish among 30 competing Level 4 gymnasts. Wells' all-around score of 36.25 is now the new all-around best score of all teammates and competing Bahamians thus far for the 2011-2012 season.
Xavier's Lower School fifth and sixth graders Cash and Swann appear to be tracking their levels with their grade. Cash competed at Level 5 and despite a tough field of over 65 gymnasts competing at that level, she held her own. Cash achieved her personal best on the vault with a score of 9.175 (fourth place) and respectfully scored a 7.5 (17th place) on the bars. She also had a 8.05 (14th place) beam score and a 8.25 (12th place) on the floor for an all-around 16th place finish of 32.95.
Swann, Xavier's Lower School sixth grader and Level 6 gymnast, would continue to trend and ensure that Xavier's and BSG were well represented. Registering her personal best in bars with a score of 8.775 (sixth place), Tally, as her teammates call her, secured a notable 9.125 (seventh place) on vault, a 8.15 (11th place) and a 8.55 (sixth place) on beam and floor respectively. These scores gave Swann her personal best all-around score of 34.6 and an eighth place finish.
Dean, Aquinas College Aces' 10th grade honor student put on an impressive performance in the Level 6 category, achieving her personal best on the bars and the beam with scores of 8.65 (10th place) and 8.5 (fifth place) respectively for what were deemed her 'weaker' events. Dean performed equally well in the vault with a score of 8.475 (12th place) and rounded out her score with a floor score of 8.25 (seventh place) for an all-around score of 34.075 (11th place), more than two points higher than her previous high all-around score for the season.
The sister-sister team of Toni and Toneka Johnson was back in action in their first offshore meet for the season, putting the exclamation point on the team's performance. The Prince William High School's eighth and 12th grade students amazed the spectators with their talents while their proud grandmother looked on. Toni, who competed at Level 7, achieved her personal best in three of the four events with a score of 9.335 (11th place) on vault, 7.35 (11th place) on bars, a 8.6 on beam and a 8.20 (14th place) on floor for a personal all-around best score of 33.50 (13th place). Although her beam and floor scores, 7.7 (12th place) and 7.1 (14th place), were below her expectation, the veteran Level 8 gymnast, Toneka, offered up an impressive showing in her other events, earning a vault score of 8.725 (first place) and a personal best score of 8.125 (sixth place) on bars, giving her an overall score of 31.65 (10th place).
Both coaches were impressed with the results from the Twisters' meet and are now looking forward to most of them moving on to new levels.
"This squad has competed well at their current levels and meanwhile we have been working on the skills required for their next levels," said Mayet. "There is a cadre of rising stars waiting in the wings ready to vie for spots on next season's team."
The 2012/2013 team is expected to be bigger and better than ever. Mayet says he is excited about the development of his coaching staff as well which is comprised of staff coaches Kachara Marshall, Monique De'Swanton and dance coach Idania Garcia-Stroud.
"What is most amazing is that most of the gymnasts all improved their scores on the events that have traditionally been a challenge and the 'Achilles heel' for Bahamian gymnasts for years - bars and beam. That speaks volumes to the superior training that the club is now benefitting from.
This meet and Wolverine Classic in Michigan were possible for Bahamas Star Gymnastics as a result of many hours of hard work by the Bahamas Gymnastics Parent Booster Club (BGPBC) and the financial support of the clubs' corporate sponsors, in particular Sun Oil Limited, which specifically contributed to these two meets. The booster club and school both thanked Sun Oil and all Bahamas Star sponsors and supporters for supporting the development of a team of talented gymnasts who are striving to represent The Bahamas at the 2016 Olympics.
Up next for the team is an exhibition performance at the club's annual primary school cheerleading competition dubbed 'Cheermania 2012' to be held on March 24, at 6 p.m.

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