Emporia’s first major gymnastics meet was flying high Saturday — as were most of its participants.
At times, all of White Auditorium seemed to be in motion. From one direction, a young girl turned eight handsprings in rapid succession. From another, a boy soared above a trampoline, landing on his back, his belly, flipping in mid-air. Nearby, gymnast after gymnast raced up to a mini-trampoline, did a couple of brief tricks, then made way for the next competitor.
There were no serious delays. No major problems. Just 225 competitors from four states having a blast.
“They’re very organized here,” said Nancy Ingram of Tulsa, Okla., whose 17-year-old daughter Alissa grabbed two first-place awards. “In other places, it’s easy to have your program at 10 and you end up having it at 12:30 instead.”
“It was a little scary,” said 8-year-old Rebecca Caywood, also of Tulsa. “The trampolines were so much more bouncy than ours were.”
If that’s the worst comment the meet’s organizers get, they’ll take it. Titled “Peace Love & Flips,” the meet was prepared and hosted by Sunflower Gymnastics.
“There’s been lots and lots of help, lots of volunteers — the volunteers have made a huge difference,” said Stacie Doemland, owner of Sunflower Gymnastics. “We’ve gotten a lot of help from a lot of sources.”
This year’s competition season is a short one — about seven weeks — thanks to a sooner-than-usual national meet and a colder-than-usual winter that canceled one contest. Saturday’s meet was the second of four that the teams from Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma and Colorado would compete in before state and national finals.
In other words, there’s no time to slack off. But Emporia gymnasts could enjoy a slightly easier pace than usual, thanks to having a meet in their own backyard.
“Instead of having to get up and drive at 5 in the morning, I can get up 20 to 30 minutes before I have to be there,” said 17-year-old Jamie Hollern of Emporia, a competitor for Skywalkers Trampoline and Tumbling in Topeka. “It’s a lot easier.”
For Sunflower competitor Gabbi McNielly, 12, the comfort of having home turf was offset by some nervousness about the competition.
“It was my first time doing this kind of gymnastics,” said McNielly, who moved to Emporia from Wichita. “Normally I do the bars and beams.”
But after four or five months with Sunflower, trampolines and tumbling are winning her over.
“I like the tramps and the double-mini mostly,” she said, referring to the miniature trampoline competition. “You get to bounce and flip on them.”
It was a satisfying day, in terms of the competition and its surroundings. Some of the family members who came to watch admired the high ceilings, the good sound system and the general professionalism.
Rebecca’s mom, Stacie Caywood, said it was great to come up to Emporia this time.
“The gym that’s putting this on always comes to our meets,” said Caywood. “So we’re sharing in their wealth.”