Home : Media : 2002 Sports Acrobatics - "Acrobats Compete for National Titles"

Acrobats Compete for National Titles
July 14, 2002

Alexi Bordlee, 11, top, Jennifer Bertram, 16, center, and Rebecca Hudson, 14, practice at Elmwood Fitness Center for the upcoming gymnastics competition at the Ponchartrain Center. All of the girls are members of the Elmwood Sports Gymnastics team.

ACROBATS COMPETE FOR NATIONAL TITLES

Top athletes to be at Kenner event Sports acrobats will converge on the Ponchartrain Center in Kenner today for the opening ceremonies of the USA Gymnastics 2002 Sports Acrobatics National Championships.

The competition will continue through Wednesday with athletes vying for national titles in women's pairs, men's pairs, women's trios, and men's fours, with a chance to represent the United States on national and world championship teams.

Top athletes scheduled to compete will include the mixed pairs Athur Davis and Shenea Booth, and Kris Duncan and Megan Vaughan; women's pairs Olivia Solo and Clare Brunson, and Marie Annonson and Brittany Horrell; and women's trio Holli Morris, Danielle Heider, and Samantha Schabow. Approxiamtely 400 Junior Olympic athletes of all ages and skill levels also will compete in the Junior Olympic Championships.

"To me, it's like watching art on a mat," said Gawain Dupree, owner of Crescent City Gymnastics, about sports acrobatics. "You work with a partner instead of an apparatus. Each routine is a little performance."

Dupree has four athletes competing at the nationals in Kenner: Erik Sorrell and Amanda Thibodeaux in Level 9 mixed pair; and Amanda Richard and Erika Bisgaard in the Level 2 women's pair.* The 16 competitors from Elmwood Gymnastics are Kaitlyn Moser, Nicole Barrilleaux, Margot Beerman, Jennifer Bertram, Alexi Bordlee, Leslie Chisholm, Jordan Coughlin, Jara Crear, Carley Faucheux, Rebecca Hudson, Jessica Lawrence, Christine Matthews, Sarah Oster, Lindsay Potter, Cole Tarzetti, and Susanne Zelenka said coach Raisa Galper.

"It's been 10 years since this competition came here," said Dupree, who competed in this event in 1992 and was on the 1996, '97 and '98 national and world teams for the U.S. Sports Acrobatics Federation, now a division of USA Gymnastics.

The sport, which combines dance, tumbling and acrobatic skills, has grown tremendously in the United States over the past decade, with an estimated 1,200 athletes now participating in the United States. It's a recognized sport in the Olympics but not yet an event. Dupree said it could be added at the 2004 or 2008 games.

The U.S. sports acrobatics team won a bronze medal at the 2000 Sports Acrobatics World Games and two silvers and one bronze at the Sports Acrobatics World Age Group Games in November 2001.

Amanda Thibodeaux, 10, of Harahan is looking forward to a top finish in the Level 9 mixed pair division with her partner, 20-year-old Erik Sorrell of New Orleans. The duo practices six dats a week in the summer and five days a week during school and has won first place in three local meets, a state and a regional meet.

"I think we have a good chance of winning," Amanda said. "We've practiced hard and are going to do our best."

The Kenner event is hosted by USA Gymnastics in partnership with the Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation.

*It is actually supposed to be the Level 10 Women's pair competition. I just thought I would inform you of the correct info.

Captions from the small box.

Gymnastics Championship

USA Gymnastics 2002 Sports Acrobatics National Championship

WHAT: The event will showcase 50 elite sports acrobatics athletes in all ages and skill levels in women's pairs, men's pairs, mixed pairs, women's trios, and men's fours in sports acrobatics.

WHEN: Today: Opening ceremonies will be from 7:30 to 10 p.m., with the elite and level 10 competition.

- On Monday from 7:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.: Level 5,6,8 and 10 and elite competitions.

- Tuesday from 7:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.: Levels 5-9 competition continue with the elite finals.

- Wednesday from 7:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.: Levels 7 and 9 and elite athletes competing, and there will be a level 10 exhibition.

WHERE: The Ponchartrain Center, 4545 Williams Blvd., Kenner.

ADMISSION: General admission is $12 a day for adults and $5 a day for children ages 7 to 13. Admission for the entire competition is $45 for adults and $18 for children. Tickets are available at the door.

DETAILS: Call the Ponchartrain Center at 465-9985.

See Other Newspaper Articles from 2002:
Post-Nationals
USAG Article

* See Corresponding Pictures *