20 Questions with National Qualifier Nicole Borkowski

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May 30, 2017

Nicole Borkowski of New Heights Gymnastics in Ohio, has come a long way in the last year or so. Nicole has upgraded many of her routines on almost all events, qualified to her first JO Nationals and has really made a name for herself. I truly enjoy watching this athlete especially on vault! Nicole has never disappointment on that event, she can stick a full twisting Yurchenko like its nobodies business. Nicole, who is currently uncommitted, will enter into her senior year in the fall. I cannot wait to see what this next year holds for Nicole. Let’s get to know Nicole a little better as she heads into her last year of gymnastics and sets her sights on obtaining a college gymnastics scholarship.

How did you get into gymnastics? How old were you? I was about 5 years old,

when my parents enrolled me in a summer gymnastics camp. I have been in love with gymnastics ever since!

What is your favorite event? My favorite event is floor.

What is your favorite part of gymnastics? My favorite part about gymnastics is all the great opportunities, lessons, and friends I’ve made because of the sport. Also, I love the feeling after hitting my routines in competition!

What college do you plan on attending? I am currently uncommitted to a college.

What is your favorite meet to compete at? My favorite meet to compete at is my home meet, Luau in Leos, because I love the energy in the gym and the water park!

Biggest accomplishment in gymnastics so far? My biggest accomplishment in my gymnastics career, so far, is either qualifying to J.O. Nationals, or scoring a 10.0 on vault!

Favorite skill to train and/or compete? My favorite skill to train is a full-in and my favorite skill to compete is my Yurchenko full.

Dream skill? My dream skill is a Yurchenko 1 1/2.

Who do you most admire in the sport of gymnastics? I admire Simone Biles.

What is your all-time favorite leotard? Do you still your very first leo? My favorite leotard has a rainbow, mosaic pattern, and is my favorite because it’s really comfortable! I don’t have my very first leo.

What is your favorite movie? My favorite movie is Collateral Beauty.

What is your go to playlist or song before meets? My go to playlist before a meet is pop and today’s hits.

What do you want to be when you grow up? I want to be a FBI agent.

Where do you go to High School? I attend Anthony Wayne Hight School.

What is your favorite color? My favorite color is yellow.

What do you like to do outside of Gymnastics? I like to read, bake, and hangout with my friends and family!

Most embarrassing meet moment or gymnastics moment? One day at practice, I wore my leo inside out, and didn’t notice it until about halfway through the practice.

If you weren’t a gymnast, what sport would you do or try? I would probably do dance.

Favorite Vacation Destination? My favorite place to vacation is the Bahamas!

If you could have lunch with anyone dead or alive who would it be and why? I would have lunch with my grandma because she has passed away, and it would be nice to sit and talk with her again.

Tell me something interesting about yourself…. Something interesting about me is I have gone on a hot air balloon ride!

Watch Nicole rock vault at her favorite meet! The 2017 Luau in Leos hosted by New Heights Athletics

Gymnastics Memorial Day Mash Up: 2017 Region 5 Dream Team Bars | Gymnastics Compilation

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Jason MacDonald

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May 29, 2017

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Region 5 Dream Team Memorial Day Mash-Up for Uneven Bars. This gymnastics mash-up features sections from our 2017 Region 5 JO National bar routines including our four national bar champions; Kai Rivers (Twistars), Alyssa Al-Ashari (Twistars), Colby Miller (Perfection) and Ella Cesario (Legacy Elite).

Also featured: Skyla Schulte (Phenom), Abigail Matthews (Cincinnati), Sarah Hargrove (Cincinnati), Claire Gagilardi (Olympic Dreams), Jenna Swartzentruber (Buckeye), Samantha Gallet (BIG), Nia Dennis (Legacy Elite) and Matilyn Waligora (Olympia).

Check out the full routines from our JO National Bar Champions:

Kai Rivers (Twistars)– https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZojh…

Colby Miller (Perfection)– https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lldaG…

Alyssa Al-Ashari (Twistars)- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0GBl…

Ella Cesario (Legacy Elite)- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKy4C…

2017 Level 9 Eastern National Champion Anna Winger (Perfection)

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Kim Dowis

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May 27, 2017

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Our next 2017 Level 9 Eastern National Champion hails from Perfection School of Gymnastics in Ohio. Anna Winger brought a second Eastern National All-Around title home to Perfection (her teammate won the junior 6 AA title), along with the Junior 8 Uneven Bars & Floor Title, lets get to know Anna and how the day went for her in Diamondale.

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CONGRATULATIONS!!!! How does it feel to be the 2017 National JR. 8 Bars, Floor, and All Around Champion? It feels great! I’ve worked so hard this season, and I’m so glad it all paid off.

Tell us how your meet went today? Walk us through each moment of your day, warm ups, events etc…. My meet went really good. I was a little nervous during warmups. It’s been a long season and I was just thinking about how I wanted to finish out my last competition strong. Floor started out pretty good. All of my warm up passes were great and I had a lot of confidence during my routine. On practice day I had a little trouble with vault, but my warm up turns were good. On my first vault, I landed a little short and took a few steps forward. I knew my second vault had to be good, so I made sure to be ready for the landing. The second vault was much better. We moved onto bars and I was feeling more relaxed. My warm up went great and I had no trouble with any of my skills. I was second up, which was good because I didn’t have to wait to long to go. When I landed my dismount, I felt a lot of relief. I had to wait a while before we rotated to beam, so I tried to stay warm while everyone else competed. I was last on beam, which meant I had a lot of time to think about everything before I competed. When I was next up, I went to a mat on the other side of the beam and did a few backhandsprings to get warmed up again. During my routine, I knew all I needed to do was stay on with minimum wobbles. When I landed my dismount, I heard a lot of cheers from the crowd and the rest of the team. I was so excited that I finished out my season strong.

What do you normally do between events to stay focused and ready for the next event? To stay focused between events, I usually try to mentally prepare myself by going through my routines a few times. After that, I try to stay calm and have fun with the rest of my teammates.

Tell us about the atmosphere of the meet compared to regular season meets you have been too.

The atmosphere was definitely a lot more exciting. I think the idea of it being the biggest and last meet of the season, gave everyone a little extra energy. The team was really supportive of each other and all of the girls and coaches interacted really well.

What is it like being part of Region 5 at Eastern Nationals? (be descriptive)

Being part of Region 5 is so much fun. We were definitely the loudest team and had the most supporters in the crowd. This gave the team so much more energy. Before each event we did a cheer and it kind of helped loosen everyone up a little.

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How has your experience been here at Nationals? What have you been doing besides competing?

Nationals is a really fun way to finish out the season. Besides competing, I went to the banquet after practice on Thursday. We had dinner and went on the tour of the stadium.

When the meet is over what is or what was the first thing you did to celebrate your win?

Other than awards, I didn’t celebrate much immediately because a teammate from my gym was competing right after me, so I watched her. After she finished I went to eat with some friends before heading home.

Other than becoming National Champion, what was one highlight of the meet for you today?

The big highlight of my meet was definitely my bar routine. Bars is my favorite event and I’ve worked so hard this season to be able to make a good routine under pressure. That score was my highest this season and I was so excited that I was able to keep my momentum from the other events and bring it to bars.

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Anything crazy or funny happen during your meet today?

The coaches put together a cup of cheers. Before every event all of the girls and coaches did a cheer to help relax us and get us pumped up for the event we were on.

How does Region 5 compare to the other Regions out on the competition Floor? What sets Region 5 apart?

Region 5 stands out because of everyone’s team spirit. All of the region 5 teams are the loudest on the floor, and everyone interacts with each other so well. There’s always lots of cheering and enthusiasm from the all of the coaches and girls on the team.

Who inspired you the most today? What did they say to you? How did you get amped up and motivated today?

My teammate inspired me the most. The night before I competed, I watched my teammate, Katya, win the JR. 6 All Around title. I had doubts in my head if I was going to be able to do it, but seeing her win, really motivated me to do it as well.

Check out her 9.775 Eastern Bars Championship routine

Congratulations to Anna, her parents and the perfection staff on a great win at the Level 9 Eastern National Championships.

Sights and Sounds: Region 5 Gymnastics | 2017 JO Nationals

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Jason MacDonald

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May 26, 2017

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Behind the scenes look at JO Nationals with Region 5. From big dismounts with stuck landings to the cheers and camaraderie of the Region 5 way , here are some of the Sights and Sounds from the 2017 R5 Dream Team at JO Nationals. Spoiler alert: watch out for the cutest future dream teamer you have ever seen!!!

2017 Level 9 Easter National Champion Q&A: Shannon Chase (Emeth)

By

Kim Dowis

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May 25, 2017

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Shannon Chase of Emeth Gymnastics is our next 2017 Level 9 Eastern All-Around National Champion. Shannon, who also won Floor & Vault, shared the Junior 4 All-Around Title. Let’s learn a little bit about Shannon’s Eastern Nationals experience and what she did to celebrate her gold medal performances.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!! How does it feel to be the 2017 National co-All Around Junior 4 Champion? It was shocking, my goal for the meet was to have fun and do my best! When they called first place and said my all around score I was so surprised!

Tell us how your meet went today? Walk us through each moment of your day, warm ups, events etc….We started on bars and Region 5 all hit, I had my best bar routine of the season and also scored higher than I had all season! When we went to beam Region 5 had a few stumbles but I was able to stay focused and I got up and hit my beam routine. Then we went to floor, during warm ups they announced the top 5 girls, I was in second it pumped me up for floor. I got a 9.5 on floor and that was my highest floor score of the season. Moving onto vault I knew I was going to be first up to compete, I was happy about that. I had a great warm up and felt super confident getting ready to compete. I stuck my first vault and I was ecstatic, I gave my coach the biggest smile ever! After my second vault and I saw that I got a 9.7 I was so proud of myself but all I could do then was wait. I knew I had a big enough score to have a chance at a vault title but I didn’t know where I’d be on the other events. I ended up being the vault and floor champion. After they announced floor awards I thought to myself “man I might have a shot at this.” Everyone said I looked so shocked when they announced the all Around champions.

What do you normally do between events to stay focused and ready for the next event? I do mind routines in my head, and I try to do drills that will help me stay focused.

Tell us about the atmosphere of the meet compared to regular season meets you have been too. There was a lot more cheering! I’m the onLy level 9 at my gym so usually I’m alone at meets, so it was really cool to be apart of a team!

What is it like being part of Region 5 at Eastern Nationals? (be descriptive) It felt like one big family, everyone worked together very well and we all had each others backs.

When the meet was finished, what was the first thing you did to celebrate your win? We took lots of pictures, I got a sweatshirt with “National Champion” on the back of it, and we went out to Olive Garden for dinner!

Other than becoming National Champion, what was one highlight of the meet for you today? The atmosphere of competing with Region 5

Anything crazy or funny happen during your meet today? This isn’t really crazy or funny but Sticking my first vault was pretty amazing!

How does Region 5 compare to the other Regions out on the competition Floor? What sets Region 5 apart? We cheer the loudest and are so supportive of one another!

Who inspired you the most today? What did they say to you? How did you get amped up and motivated today? Brett from Twistars was really funny, and he did a cheer before each event with us! He kept the meet fun and the team pumped up!

Congratulations to Shannon, her family, her coaches and the rest of the staff at Emeth Gymnastics!

Check out Shannon’s 9.7 Eastern National Champion title vault

Stay Tuned for our next Level 9 Eastern National All-Around Champion!