2018 was a breakout year for Elaina McGovern as she qualified to her first JO Nationals. She talks about her regionals experience and the moment she realized she qualified. Elaina was a member of the JR D squad that won the JO National Team title at nationals. She talks about how much fun the competition was and the bonds she made with her teammates during the weekend. Elaina has upgraded for 2019 and is looking forward to another great season. #R5Spotlight #ElainaMcGovern #gymnasticsprofile
Training Tuesday: Bars Basic Complex with Tom Strange | Handstand and Pirouetting
Tom Strange from DeVeaus takes the High Performance camp athletes through a bars complex that works the handstand lines and pirouette shapes. He mixes in some great side station drills with the kip casting and giant blinds/pirouette bars stations. #gymnasticstraining #barscomplex #gymnasticstrainingtuesday
Breaking It Down: JO National Champion Beam Routine | Erika Penamante
2018 JO National Beam Champion Erika Penamante from Legacy Elite breaks down her beam routine that won her the title back in May. She walks us through what she is thinking about during each of her skills. We get to watch from Erika’s point of view during her skills to see what it’s like for the gymnast doing their skills up on the balance beam. #BreakingItDown #ErikaPenamante #GoProGymnastics
Episode #7: Journey of Armenian Olympian Houry Gebeshian
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Houry was a scholarship athlete at the University of Iowa between 2008-2011 and won a Big Ten Beam Title. She has a great story on how she began to compete for Armenia at the world championships and ultimately becoming the first armenian female gymnast to compete at the Olympic games. She has now moved onto coaching both club and future armenian gymnasts along with helping aspiring collegiate gymnasts with the recruiting process. She has done it all and is on our show today to give us her story of drive and determination to achieve her dreams. We welcome back Houry Gebeshian to the show today.
Episode #7 Show Notes:
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Show Breakdown
5:22 – How and Why Houry decided to compete at the elite level for Armenia
7:16 – Transition from college to elite
9:22 – Experience as college athlete at Iowa and being 2011 Big Ten Beam Champion.
12:11 – What brought Houry back to competitive gymnastics after her short time as an elite in 2011?
14:45 – IF IF IF IF, You have the passion why not go for it.
16:25 – Competing at the 2015 World Championships in Scotland
19:08 – Experience of the new World Championships introductions (FIRE)
20:32 – Rio Olympic Test Event Experience
22:54 – Arriving at the 2016 Rio Olympics, village, lost luggage
24:12– The moment of realization of being an Olympian
27:08 -Talking about being part of the Armenian delegation at the opening ceremonies and in village
29:40– Marching out and competing at the Olympics
31:22 – Getting The “Gebeshian” bar mount
34:02 – Was the olympics all you dreamed of?
35:35 – Gym World and the owners impact on your olympic journey
39:14- MR G ( the late Ron Ganim)
41:12- Transition to coaching (coaching in Region 5 at Gym World)
43:22– Coaching at the elite level for Armenia and building up Armenian Gymnastics
45:16– What has Houry gained from her experiences in gymnastics?
If your interested in help with the college recruiting process Houry and Full out Recruiting are there to help. Check out their website at https://fulloutcollegiaterecruiting.com for more information.
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20 Questions with 2018 Level 9 Eastern National Champion Ava Molina (CGA)
Our next 20 Questions Athlete is a little dynamo from Cincinnati Gymnastics in Ohio. Ava Molina, is another outstanding former Level 9 who is one of my favorite athletes to watch, I saw this talent youngster a few times throughout the season, but it was the Region 5 Championships where she really caught my eye while watching her perform on the Balance Beam. Ava, who will be embarking on her first season at a Level 10, performed a triple series on Beam which not many Level 9 athletes do. Ava, who loves to perform on floor, is a bouncy ball of energy you just cannot help but smile while you watch her on the floor. Full of both power, grace and talent she is definitely going to be one to watch as she enters into Level 10 this season and tries to qualify to her first JO Nationals. Lets get to know this incredibly talented young athlete a little bit better as she gears up for competition season.
How did you get into gymnastics? How old were you? I decided I wanted to start gymnastics when I was 7 years old after I watched my sister compete for about a year.
What is your favorite event? My favorite event is floor because I love to perform! Video
Favorite Skill to train/compete? My favorite skill to train is a back-handspring, layout, layout on beam.
Dream Skill? My dream skill is a standing full on beam!
What is your favorite part of gymnastics? My favorite part of gymnastics is the 
excitement and joy of getting a new skill.
What is your favorite meet to compete at? Why? My favorite meet to compete at is our home meet, the CGA Coaches Spectacular. I love that my family and friends can come and watch me compete!
Biggest accomplishment in gymnastics so far? My biggest accomplishment in gymnastics would have to be when I won bars, beam, and all around at the 2018 Level 9 Eastern Nationals!
Who do you most admire in the sport of gymnastics? I most admire Amelia Hundley because no matter what the obstacle was, she was always able to overcome it with her consistent hard work.
What is your favorite Region 5 Insider Feature or Series? I like watching some of the All Access videos because it is cool to see other gyms train. I also like watching some of the Coaches Wired videos because its interesting to hear other coaches last minute corrections before their girls compete.
What is your go to playlist or song before meets? My go to song to listen to before a meet is “Glorious” by Macklemore.
3 Things you could not live without? I couldn’t live without my friends, family, and my phone!
If you could be any animal, what animal would you be and why? If I could be any animal I would be a giraffe because then I would know what it feels like to be tall! 🙂
5 Most Important or Must have Items in your gym bag? The five must have items in my gym bag are my grips, my tiger paws, a roll of tape, a roll of pre wrap, and an extra leo.
Do you have any pre-meet rituals or superstitions? My pre-meet ritual is to write 
down all my goals for that specific meet in a journal. This really helps me to focus on what I want to accomplish at that meet instead of focusing on nerves.
What do you like to do outside of Gymnastics? Outside of gymnastics I like to hang out with friends, run with my cross country team, and watch Netflix!
Most embarrassing meet moment or gymnastics moment? At our gym’s Fall Festival, my dad beat me in a rope climb contest when I was a level 4. (I could definitely beat him now though!!)
If you weren’t a gymnast, what sport would you do or try? Actually in addition to gymnastics I run cross country, too!
Which athletes (any sport) do you respect the most and why? Again I really admire Amelia Hundley. I had the privilege of watching her train and get ready for the Olympic Trials before she went to Florida. It was inspiring to see her come back from injury and be so successful hitting eight for eight routines at trials!
Most Memorable Gymnastics or JO Nationals Moment? My most memorable moment in gymnastics is winning the 2018 Level 9 Region 5 Championships! I had the best meet of my life with my personal best all around score! I had struggled consistently putting a four for four meet together that season but it all came together that day. I’ll never forget the feeling of winning all around at regionals!
What is the most valuable piece of advice or wisdom your coach has given 
you? The most valuable advice that a coach has given me is to always continue to try your hardest. Even if you don’t achieve what you wanted in that exact moment of time, you will eventually get it as long as you continue to give your all-in effort.
Bonus Question: Tell me something interesting about yourself…. I have a big extended family, and almost all of them live nearby. We get together often and I love hanging out with all of my cousins… They’re some of my best friends!
Check out Ava’s 2018 Eastern Nationals Photo Gallery
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