In this Coaches Wired episode, we listen in as Gym America owner Claudia Kretschmer coaches Lily Clapper on her final event, beam, at the 2021 Level 10 Dev Nationals. Listen in as they keep it all in balance. Claudia talks Lily through their warm-up encouraging her and reinforcing her cues to help keep calm and confident during her routine. Though the routine had a large error on her turn the rest of the routine was calm and confident. Claudia is one of the best beam coaches in our region and her gymnasts are always well prepared and ready to compete. Check out Claudia in her element as Lily finishes up her last event at nationals.
Our next 20 Questions athlete, Sarah Wozniak, is a 2021 Graduate from Legacy Elite in Illinois. Sarah comes from a family of Gymnasts following in the footsteps of her mom who was involved in the sport. In the fall Sarah will be heading off to college at William & Mary where she will be part of the gymnastics team. There are quite a few Region 5er’s heading to William & Mary in the fall & coming years. Let’s get to know Sarah a little bit better as she closes one chapter with Legacy Elite & Region 5 and begins the next chapter of her academic & athlete journey.
How did you get into Gymnastics? How old were you? I started gymnastics when I was 2 years old. My mom did gymnastics growing up and loves the sport so she decided to put in me into a mommy and me class
What is your favorite event? Why? Bars is my favorite event because it comes the most naturally for me and I love the feeling of swinging and catching release moves!
Favorite Skill? Dream Skill? My favorite skill is my double layout off bars because it is super fun to train and compete. I also never expected to compete that dismount because it always looked super cool and difficult to get when I was younger! My dream skill is a yurchenko 1.5 because I love watching gymnasts compete it and it has a 10.0 college start value.
Favorite part of Gymnastics? Why? Training with my best friends everyday and traveling for meets. I love making fun memories at practice and seeing new parts of the country.
Biggest Accomplishment in Gymnastics so far? Placing in the top 3 on bars at level 9 and 10 regionals. Also, coming back from many injuries while maintaining my strength and my love for the sport!
Most embarrassing meet or training meet? I crunched my ankle on vault in level 9 when I first got my yurchenko and had to be carried out of the building by my coach.
What is something you have learned from Gymnastics that you will take with you once you leave the sport? I have learned to persevere through obstacles and failures because success does not come without setbacks. I have also learned that it takes lots of patience to see the results from working hard but it’s important to trust the process!
Who is your biggest role model? Why? My parents because they push me to be my best in school and gymnastics and support me in whatever I set my mind to!
What are you most looking forward to in your senior year in gymnastics & high school? It was so fun to have an in person prom and graduation! I loved ending the school year with all of my friends together after doing school virtually for most of the year. I am also excited to spend one last summer training with my friends at practice
What college will you be attending in the fall? College of William & Mary
a. Why did you choose that school? I love how William & Mary offers me both very strong academics and the opportunity to compete in Division 1 Gymnastics! I also love the historic and beautiful campus and location in Williamsburg, Virginia.
b. What are you most looking forward to about college & college gymnastics? I am so excited to meet new people and be a part of a collegiate team. I am also excited to be challenged academically and join clubs/ organizations
What is something that sets your gym and/or your team part? My team is always so supportive of one another and we always put in hard work to achieve our goals
What is your role on your Level 10 Team or your role in your gym in general? I help lead stretching and conditioning at practice and I try to be a role model for the other gymnastics by working hard and always giving forth my best effort. I also support my teammates by giving them advice and support, and I coach rec and team gymnasts as well.
What is your most memorable Gymnastics moment? I loved traveling to California for a meet with my friends and hiking together to the Hollywood Sign. Another memorable moment was my last regionals with my team where I also met some of my future teammates!
What are your goals for this season? Contribute to my team as much as possible and be the most supportive and positive teammate that I can be.
How would you explain the year 2020 to your future children/grandchildren? 2020 was a strange year that brought many challenges like being socially isolated and spending time at home, but I learned so much and grew as a person
What is the most valuable piece of advice or wisdom your coaches have given you? To work hard for my self and not for anyone else.
Do you have a nickname? If so what is it?What is the story behind it? Some of my friends call me Sar, just because it is a shortened version of Sarah
What really makes you laugh? When my teammates wipe out or make stupid mistakes at practice.
If you could have any super power what would it be? Why? I would want to be able to read people’s minds so I could learn interesting and useful information.
What is your intended major? I’m planning on majoring in International Relations at William & Mary
Bonus Question: Tell us something interesting about yourself………..
I have 5 younger sibling (4 sisters and 1 brother) and the youngest 3 are triplets. My sister Amy is committed to UNC for gymnastics.
Day in the Life with Level 10 National Qualifier and Jenna Olshefski from Universal Gymnasts in Ohio. Jenna takes us through her week as she leads into her first Level 10 National Championships which was held in Daytona Beach back in May. We get to see a bit of her daily life at home with balancing school with her gymnastics before taking us behind the scenes of her first nationals experience which included two top five finishes and a team win for her Junior F teammates. Let’s check out our Eye on 5 with Jenna.
USA Gymnastics Championships for 2021 rapped up with day 2 of the senior competition. Dickies Arena was electric with on the edge of your set exciting routines combined with the loud roars from the crowd. The energy from the crowd was felt by all in the arena as these fans were just excited to be able to enjoy live gymnastics again.
There was a lot ridding on this final day of competition here in Fort Worth as the national team and qualifiers for the Olympic Trials were up for grabs. Region 5 hoped to have a few more athletes in the mix but due to different circumstances only Shilese Jones from Future Gymnastics competed with a chance to move onto trials.
Shilese entered day 2 of competition in 11th place only .45 out of 5th place. She waisted no time moving up the leader board with a huge vault and bar set before struggling again on beam. She finished the day in 12th with a 108.5 and secured a place at the Olympic Trials in St. Louis in three weeks.
She launched herself into the action with a huge “JONES” (check it out here) first pass that went out of bounds but easily landed her double arabian, which she missed on night 1.
Shilese posted the the 2nd highest single vault score of the competition (tied with MyKayla Skinner) of a 15.0 with an absolutely beautiful Yurchenko Double full. It’s too bad that elites don’t get two vaults so she could try her Amanar before or after her double full. She sends this vault into the air and floats down to a STUCK landing. Check it out!
In rotation 3, her stalder piked Tkatchev that she launches or more like throws into air was finger tip caught which sent her Pak salto transition up into the air. However, in true Shilese style, she handled it with ease finishing her routine with an almost stuck double front which she turned quickly to salute the judge. Her 28.7 combined total was good enough for 5th. Those of you who aren’t aware she is pretty good on bars!
Balance beam just wasn’t her event here at this years championships even though she can be amazing when she is on. The routine started very solid with her standing arabian, and front tuck. She would however struggle with her flight series omitting her layout two feet and grabbing the beam in the process. She finished her double back dismount combo very close to the beam dropping her from 4th to 12th in the final standings.
The field for the 2021 Olympic Gymnastics Trials is set. It’s going to be an exciting two days of competition in St. Louis.
Day two of juniors at the 2021 USA Championships was one of consistency and improved performances from those on day 1. Though there were some falls here and there the competition in the junior session was very competitive with clean and confident gymnastics even if there were only thirteen of them.
The Region 5 Trio hit all four events in day two and each found themselves on the awards podium on multiple events. In the all around Gabby Van Frayen (Gym Xtreme) and Ella Kate Parker (Cincinnati) tied for 7th all around with a 102.2 to claim spots on the 2021 USA Junior National Team. Izzy Stassi (Gym Xtreme) finished 11th in the all around with a 101.00.
Ella Kate had the top individual finish with two awesome beams sets over the two days of competition to finish 2nd with a total of 26.7. Her aerial layout step out is eye catching and she always finishes it with a chin raise as if to say beat that!
Izzy Stassi nailed two bars sets to finish 4th overall with a total of 25.5. I didn’t think her Maloney uprise clear hip Ray combo could be better but it might have been today. She upgraded her dismount to a layout 1/1 out on day 2. It will be awesome to see where this routine goes in terms of composition in the coming years. Izzy also was very solid on all her landings especially her very nice 2 1/2 front tuck on day 2 to finish 8th and grab another medal in her first championships.
Gym Xtreme had two swing into the top 5 on bars as Gabby finished the two days in 5th with a 25.15. She connected her toe full to Maloney in warm-ups but turned it over the bar a little too much during competition however her Maloney Pak combo was right on along with her Jaeger which rotates so fast off the bar. Gabby also took 7th on beam with a two day total of 25.4. Her routines were both super solid though she did have to leave out her second layout in her series on day 2.
It was fun to watch this trio compete and gain that first championships experience and confidence. These three have loads of talent and the sky is the limit to where their careers take them in the future.
