Nine Sumter County gymnasts bring home 30 medals at the AAU National Championships
Published 7:03 pm Monday, July 2, 2018
- Taylor Rush left) and Jayla Hawkins (right). Rush won the National Championship in her age group with a score of 9.6 in the vault competition. Jayla Hawkins finished in third place on the balance beam. Submitted photo
By Staff Reports
TAMPA, FL – This past weekend, Friday, June 29 through Sunday, July 1, was a very successful weekend for the Sumter County Gymnastics Team. The team competed with over 1600 gymnasts from around the country at the AAU National Championships in Tampa, Florida. Nine Sumter County gymnasts brought home a total of 30 medals. One of those who medaled became a National Champion. Taylor Rush won the National Championship in her age group with a score of 9.6 in the vault competition.
Angel Cobb was the national runner up in her age group on the vault with a score of 9.6 and also in the all-around. She also finished third on the uneven bars, balance beam and floor exercise. Jayla Hawkins finished in third place. Hawkins scored a 9.45 on the balance beam. Kayleigh Cox scored a 9.3 on the uneven bars. Susannah Pearce scored a 9.2 on the vault and Wimberly Hines finished in third place on both vault with a 9.05 and balance beam with a 9.15. Kylar Woods scored a 9.175 on the vault. Lauren Williams finished in fourth place in the floor exercise with a score of 8.9 and Claudia Spradley finished in ninth place on the uneven bars with a score of 9.3.
Angel Cobb (left) and Kayleigh Cox (right). Cobb was the national runner up in her age group on the vault with a score of 9.6 and also in the all-around competition. Kayleigh Cox had an outstanding performance on the uneven bars, scoring a 9.3.
Submitted photo
Melissa Singley, gymnastics instructor for the SCPRD, could not be prouder of her gymnasts’ accomplishments. “We are so proud of how hard these girls have worked this past year leading up to this meet,” Singley said. “There was some very tough competition at Nationals and these gymnasts really rose to the challenge. Many of these girls had a personal best on one or more events and in their all-around score. We are looking forward to watching these gymnasts and all the gymnasts of Sumter Gymnastics learn and grow in the future to hopefully bring home more state, regional or national titles in the coming season.”
“Melissa Singley works hard with kids in various age groups to offer a complete gymnastics experience here in Sumter County,” SCPRD Director Tim Estes said. With the soon to be completed expansion of the gymnastics facility at The Columns, we will be able to offer the next level in this program to our gymnastics family.”
