Save on Wearable Technology + FREE shipping on all orders $35+!
Check out behind the scenes footage from our dream team Media Day at the 2017 JO Nationals. During the shoot, our regional banquet intro was filmed along with 2 of our upcoming features R5 Uncovered and our new series The Mind Of…….. Bar Worker.
Subscribe to our YouTube Channel
Camryn Klein hails from the same Indiana gym that created Samantha Peszek, DeVeau’s School of Gymnastics has been Camryn’s home since she took her first tumble at 3 years old. 
Camryn, who is heading into her Senior year following the summer, is an Indiana State Champion and a JO National Qualifier. Undecided on plans for college, but I am sure whatever school she chooses will be lucky to have her. Let’s get to know Camryn Klein a bit more as she heads into her last summer with not only DeVeau’s, but Region 5 Gymnastics as well. We would like to wish Cami a great summer and we look forward to seeing her on the competition floor in her senior year.
Save on Wearable Technology + FREE shipping on all orders $35+!
How did you get into gymnastics? How old were you? I wanted to be a cheerleader
but was too young so I started gymnastics instead. I never looked back on cheerleading again! I started gymnastics when I was 3.
What is your favorite event? Beam
What is your favorite part of gymnastics? I enjoy getting new skills, and being able to be part of an amazing, supportive team.
What college do you plan on attending? Undecided
What is your favorite meet to compete at? Circle of Stars!!!
Biggest accomplishment in gymnastics so far? Winning vault and all around at state this year!
Favorite skill to train and/or compete? Either a tkatchev or a back handspring layout series on beam.
Dream skill? Full-in on floor
Who do you most admire in the sport of gymnastics? Maggie Nichols
What is your all-time favorite leotard? Do you still have your very first leo? I loved my competition leo from 2015-2016. I still have my first competition leo!
What is your favorite movie? Split
What is your go to playlist or song before meets? I made a “car” playlist with songs to listen to on the way to my meets. It’s full of pump up songs.
What do you want to be when you grow up? I want to have a career in the psychology field.
Where do you go to High School? Zionsville Community High School
What is your favorite color? Purple
What do you like to do outside of Gymnastics? I like to pole vault and spend time with family and friends
Most embarrassing meet moment or gymnastics moment? I had ice wrapped around my knee so I couldn’t bend my leg, but I was trying to go up the stairs to get to the podium and I tripped on the last step. Everyone laughed at me.
If you weren’t a gymnast, what sport would you do or try? Diving
Favorite Vacation Destination? Punta Cana
If you could have lunch with anyone dead or alive who would it be and why? Melissa McCarthy because she seems like a cool chick, and we could have some good laughs
Tell me something interesting about yourself….I compete pole vault in my free time!
Check out Camryn rocking the Uneven Bars at the 2017 JO Nationals in Indianapolis, Indiana
Our next athlete in our 20 Questions series, hails from Cincinnati Gymnastics Academy in Ohio. Senior Kaci Martir is a 3 time Level 9 State Vault Champion as well as a 2 time Regional Vault Champion, and most recently a 2 time JO National Qualifier. Kaci will be heading to Temple University in the fall where she will compete on the gymnastics team. Let’s get to know Kaci a little better as we wraps up her last summer with CGA and Region 5 before heading onto the next chapter of her life. We would like to wish Kaci all the best of luck at Temple University.
How did you get into gymnastics? How old were you? My older sister started first
and would come home and teach it to me and I could do it so easily that thy decided to put me in classes too. I was 4 years old
What is your favorite event? Bars
What is your favorite part of gymnastics? That it is challenging and more unique than other sports. People are genuinely impressed with what we can do
What college do you plan on attending? Temple University
What is your favorite meet to compete at? Presidential Classic
Biggest accomplishment in gymnastics so far? Being given the opportunity to compete in College
Favorite skill to train and/or compete Double Fronts
Dream skill? Double Arabian
Who do you most admire in the sport of gymnastics? Dominique Dawes
What is your all-time favorite leotard? Do you still your very first leo? The Leo
that Oklahoma wore with the crossed open back. I don’t have have my first Leo.
What is your favorite movie? Stick it
What is your go to playlist or song before meets? All we do is Win
What do you want to be when you grow up? Orthopedic surgeon
Where do you go to High School? Lakota West
What is your favorite color? Blue
What do you like to do outside of Gymnastics? Being with my friends
Most embarrassing meet moment or gymnastics moment? The time I tried to make my pirouette over 3 times and then fell on a giant and didn’t finish my routine.
If you weren’t a gymnast, what sport would you do or try? Diving
Favorite Vacation Destination? Punta Cana
If you could have lunch with anyone dead or alive who would it be and why? Beyoncé because she is my favorite artist
Tell me something interesting about yourself…. I’ve always loved photography. I started taking pictures when I was about 12 and I’m pretty good at it. I like that I can decide what angle to put the camera and what the object will look like out of a different lens.
Check out Kaci rocking her favorite event, the Uneven Bars, at the 2017 JO National Championships in Indianapolis, Indiana
Senior Spotlight: 2017 JO National Qualifier Mackenna Linnen from Gym America. Mackenna talks about her role as a senior and then impact she has on her team. At Gym America the motto is Character for Life and she embodies this inside and outside of the gym. 2016 was a difficult year as she had to work through back and leg injuries and had a disappointing ending to the season but used that has motivation to have one of her best season in this her senior year. She will be headed to West Virginia in the fall and already feels right at home and part of the team. Her leadership qualities will transfer nicely over to her college experience and Claudia, her coach, says that a perfect 10 on beam is in her future and is excited to see what the future holds for Mackenna. A hard working athlete who strives for what she wants all with a positive attitude.
We have reached the end of our 2017 Level 9 Eastern National Championships coverage. Region 5 ended the weekend the same way it started with a National All-Around Champion being crowned. Olivia Kavanaugh, of Wright’s Gymnastics in Indiana, competing in the last session of the weekend took the top spot for Region 5 becoming the 2017 Level 9 Eastern National AA Champion and the 8th Region 5 athlete to win the All-Around Title. Olivia, who is a senior, competed in the last meet of her career in Diamondale. Let’s get to know Olivia a little better and how it was representing Region 5 at Nationals for the first/last time.
CONGRATULATIONS!!!! How does it feel to be the 2017 Eastern National Senior 8 All-Around Champion? It was incredible! This is the first time I have qualified to nationals. I am a senior in high school and to end my gymnastics career like this was perfect.
Tell us how your meet went today? Walk us through each moment of your day, warm ups, events etc…. I was there watching my teammates compete in the morning session. Watching them got me really excited for my session. It was bittersweet at the beginning of warm-ups because I knew this was my last competition of my gymnastics career. Throughout warm-ups, my region 5 team got to know one another. March-in was a very cool experience…electrifying. My first event was vault. This is the hardest event for me, so I was glad to have it first. Warm-ups went really well, and my two competition vaults were even better. It felt great to do well on my first event of the day. My next event, bars, is my favorite event. Warm-ups went extremely well, and when I landed me double-back dismount in my competition routine, I knew I couldn’t have asked for a better routine to end on at Nationals. Next, we were off to beam. I had a little bit of a rough warm-up because I was having a difficult time sticking my series. However, when it came time to my judged routine, I was able to stick my series as well as my other skills. My last event was floor. Knowing this was my last routine I would ever compete, I wanted to leave it all out there on the floor. I had a lot of energy (I stepped out of bounds on my first pass, a double back). I finished the routine strong and was able to stick my 1 1/2 front pike. After landing this pass and hearing my teammates cheering for me, I realized that that was one of the moments you want to remember for the rest of your life. Even after finishing the competition, I knew I had done well, but I had no idea that I had won. All of my teammates and coaches and even my family knew that I had won, but none of them told me. When they announced my name as the all-around champion I was both excited yet so astonished at the same time.
What do you normally do between events to stay focused and ready for the next event? Between events, I usually envision my routines in my head and go through/over the corrections that my coaches have given me to stay focused and ready for the next event.
Tell us about the atmosphere of the meet compared to regular season meets you have been too. There was much more energy in the atmosphere at Nationals compared to the regular season meets. The crowd was much more involved and it was really awesome getting to know the girls on my region 5 team.
What is it like being part of Region 5 at Eastern Nationals? (be descriptive) Being on the region 5 team, I could feel that everyone had the same goal…win as a team. There were lots of cheering and the coaches all worked together. I could tell that everyone was proud to be a part of the region 5 team.
How has your experience been here at Nationals? What have you been doing besides competing? It has been incredible. From training day to competition day, I enjoyed every moment of it. All of my teammates qualified to Nationals either as competitors or alternates, so we did a lot of team building activities. We went hiking one day and did the challenges that were there (such as having to get our whole team over a wall).
When the meet is over what is or what was the first thing you did to celebrate your win? The first thing I did to celebrate my win was I went out to eat with my family and teammates. When we got back to the gym on Monday, there was a little celebration for me a
nd my other teammates that also placed at Nationals.
Other than becoming National Champion, what was one highlight of the meet for you today? Another highlight for me was getting to meet a new group of awesome girls and compete with them.
Anything crazy or funny happen during your meet today? Our region 5 team took team bathroom breaks between events, so you would just see a line of girls running in and out of the gym together (not sure if you consider this funny or crazy).
How does Region 5 compare to the other Regions out on the competition Floor? What sets Region 5 apart? On the region 5 team, there was so much more cheering. Region 5 has so much fun on the competition floor because there is a tea
m effort to win. We were focused on the team more than ourselves. It really is a team. Everyone works together.
Who inspired you the most today? What did they say to you? How did you get amped up and motivated today? My mom inspired me the most that day. Before the competition, she told me to have fun and relax and that I got it. (Confidence)
I got motivated for the competition by listening to music and watching my teammates compete in the session before me.
Congratulations to Olivia, her coaches and her family on a successful gymnastics career and finishing it out on top. Congratulations on graduating from High School and moving onto the next chapter of your story.
