USA Gymnastics State meet here Saturday
By Joey Berlin
Originally published 12:46 p.m., April 1, 2008
Updated 12:46 p.m., April 1, 2008
Emporians will get a chance to see some of the highest-flying gymnasts in Kansas, Oklahoma and Nebraska when the USA Gymnastics State Trampoline and Tumbling meet comes to Emporia for the first time on Saturday.
Sunflower Gymnastics will host the event, taking place from 8:30 a.m. until around 6 p.m. at White Auditorium. The state chair for USA Gymnastics hosts the event for the three-state area, and this year’s chair is Stacie Doemland, owner and head coach of Sunflower.
The event will feature about 260 athletes from the three states taking part in the trampoline and tumbling events from USA Gymastics’ Region III. The regional championships will be next month in Fort Worth, Texas, followed by this year’s national championships from June 30 to July 6 at Bartle Hall in Kansas City, Mo.
Nationals are being held this year in conjunction with 2008 Olympic trials, so trampolinists who compete Saturday are battling for a spot on the U.S. Olympic team.
The state meet alternates each year between Kansas and Oklahoma. Though Nebraska is part of the meet, Doemland said it probably won’t ever be held there, because only one three-person team from there is competing.
“We co-sanction with Oklahoma because there aren’t enough teams in Kansas to make it economically feasible to hold a meet with just Kansas athletes,” Doemland said.
Admission to the event is $5 for ages 5 and up. Doemland said the older upper-level athletes will mostly be competing before 1 p.m., while the rest of the day will feature various lower- and intermediate-level competitors.