Gymnastics Center of Chattanooga, located in Ooltewah, had some top finishers during the Tennessee Gymnastics Optional State Championships held in Knoxville.
The GCC team is coached by Emily Byrd and by Adam Byrd, who was named Tennessee Junior Olympic Optional Coach of the Year for 2007 by Tennessee U.S.A. Gymnastics.
For the second year in a row, every member of the GCC level 8-10 teams qualified for the Region 8 (comprised of eight Southeastern states) Regional Championships.
Also, for the second year in a row, GCC’s level 8 team won the TN state championships and took the top five seeded spots (out of eight) to represent the Tennessee State Team at Regionals.
This year, Region 8 Level 8 Regional Championships will be held for the first time in the Chattanooga area at Camp Jordan Arena in East Ridge from May 2-4. The level 9/10 Level 8 Regional Championships will be held in Huntsville, Ala., next weekend.
GCC had individual state champions in every optional level. This year, GCC was the only gym in the state of Tennessee to have teams place in the top three at every level at which they had a team (levels 7-9).
The GCC gymnasts placed as follows:
Individual All-around Awards:
Level 7
(age 8,9): 1st place (tied) - Meghan Green
(age 10): 2nd place - Haley Turner, 5th - Lindsey Cain, 8th - Kelsey Young
(age 11): 3rd place - Natalie Smith, 9th (tied) - Sarah Keller
Level 8
(age 9,10): 1st place - Jaquie Tun, 2nd place - Macey Roberts
(age 11): 1st place - Rachel Payne, 2nd place - Courtney Carroll
(age 12): 1st place - Brooke Paulsen
(age 14,15): 2nd place - Mary Portera
Level 9
(age 9-12): 1st place - Grace Watkins, 3rd place - Jaclyn Stevison, 4th place - Alison Carroll, 5th place - Ciera Miller
(age 16+): 4th place -Melissa Kramer
Level 10
(age 16): 4th place - Alyssa Wilson
(age 17): 1st place - Stacy Kramer
Team Awards:
Level 7 - Second Place Team: Sarah Keller, Natalie Smith, Lindsey Cain, Meghan Greene, Haley Turner, Kelsey Young
Level 8 - First Place Team: Courtney Carroll, Brooke Paulsen, Rachel Payne, Macey Roberts, Jaquie Tun, Mary Portera
Level 9 - Third Place Team: Alison Carroll, Melissa Kramer, Ciera Miller, Jaclyn Stevison, Grace Watkins
Regional Qualifiers:
Level 8 (rank out of 30) - Jaquie Tun (1), Rachel Payne (2), Macey Roberts (3), Brooke Paulsen (tied 4), Courtney Carroll (tied 4), Mary Portera (11)
Level 9 (rank out of 46) - Grace Watkins (2), Jaclyn Stevison (16), Alison Carroll (21), Ciera Miller (tied 23), Melissa Kramer (36)
Level 10 (rank out of 16) - Alyssa Wilson (6), Stacy Kramer (9)
Gymnastics Center of Chattanooga is located at:
6855 Mountain View Road
Ooltewah, Tn. 37363
ph: 423 238-5258