Strivers Gymnasts Sweep Podium
The Door County YMCA Striver Gymnastic Team had a clean sweep this past weekend in West Bend, Wisconsin. The Team competed in the ten-team Fire and Ice Invitational hosted by the Kettle Moraine YMCA. Leading the competition were the Excel Silver gymnasts. The group grabbed gold in the Team competition scoring 114.50. The Striver Team won gold in the All Around in the nine and under, ten and eleven, and twelve and up categories.
In the twelve and over age group the Striver gymnasts grabbed gold, silver, and bronze in the All Around. Lauren Gaida won gold scoring 38.35 out of a possible 40 points. Keira Clark won silver with a 37.70 while Evelynn Kelsey won bronze with a 37.60. Gaida also won vault, beam and bars and she placed second on the floor. Clark won first on the floor, second on the beam, and fourth on the bars. Kelsey won silver on vault and bronze on beam and bars. Greta Virgin won bronze on vault, fourth on beam, and fifth on floor. Destiney Romero won fourth on vault.
In the nine and under the Strivers had one gymnast, Ellie Kelsey compete. Ellie grabbed gold in the All Around, floor and bars. Ellie placed fourth on the beam. In the ten and eleven-year-old age group, Sawyer Soukup won gold in the All Around, beam, and vault. Sawyer placed fourth on the floor and fifth on the bars. Brinley Newton won bars, placed second on the floor, third in the All Around, and fourth on vault. Delaney Allen placed fourth on bars.
Estelle Duerst led the Level seven team to a Silver Team Trophy edging out eight YMCA teams for the second-place trophy. Duerst won the All Around with a 36.70 and balance beam with a 9.45. Duerst earned bronze on vault and fourth on bars. Amira Anschutz won bars, earned silver on vault, bronze in the All Around and a fourth-place finish on floor. Portia Hah won silver on bars, bronze in the All Around and floor.
Shaylyn Asher competed in the Platinum division with one age group. Shaylyn competed against high-school girls aged 16 and 17. Shaylyn delivered, she won gold on bars scoring 9.0, silver in the All Around with a 34.70, and silver on the floor with a 9.35.
The Striver Team will head to the State Tournament in Fond Du Lac, Wisconsin March 16 and 17. The Striver Excel Silver is currently undefeated. The girls will be fending their 2022-2023 State Title. The girls goal is to return from Fond Du Lac as back-to-back State Champions.
The Door County YMCA: For Youth Development, Healthy Living and Social Responsibility. Driven by its founding mission, the Door County YMCA has 170 full and part-time staff serving over 10,242 members in Door County from facilities in Fish Creek and Sturgeon Bay in a broad range of programming for all ages. The Y empowers everyone, no matter who they are or where they’re from, by ensuring access to resources, relationships, and opportunities for all to learn, grow and thrive. By bringing together people from different backgrounds, perspectives, and generations, the Y’s goal is to improve overall health and well-being, ignite youth empowerment and demonstrate the importance of connections in and across 10,000 communities nationwide.