Submitted photos Mountain Gymnastics Academy’s Xcel Silver, Gold and Level 4 Teams.

ELKINS — Gymnasts and their families from West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Virginia traveled to Elkins for Mountain Gymnastics Academy’s Mountain Madness Meet on March 1 and 2.

Athletes from ages 5 to 18 competed on vault, uneven bars, beam and floor at MGA’s facility.

Xcel Bronze gymnast Ember Loudin from Buckhannon was crowned the Queen of Hearts for scoring the highest of all gymnasts in her session. Ember placed first on uneven bars and beam, second on vault and floor, and first all-around in the Xcel ages 5-6 division.

Other highlights for the Bronze team included Aubrey Jellerson of Elkins who came in first on vault, bars, floor and all-around while placing second on beam, and Emma Knavenshue of Elkins who scored second on vault and 1st on beam, floor and all-around. Harmony Hymes Belington came in first on bars and all-around, while placing second on beam. Ava Boyer of Coalton placed second on bars and floor and came in third all-around. Lucy Talbot of Elkins came in second on vault, and Maddie Garner of Beverly came in second on bars. Brylee Arbogast of Philippi placed second on floor and came in 3rd all-around. 

In the Xcel Silver ages 7-8 division, Alexis Riffle of Elkins placed second on floor.

Xcel Gold gymnast Addison Riffle of Elkins came in first on bars and second all-around. L Rashella of Buckhannon placed second on beam and third all-around, while Adalynn Cooper placed second on floor and third all-around in her age group.

Xcel Platinum gymnast Mady Hurst of Elkins came in second on floor, and Hailey Bremigan of Belington took second on vault.

As the only Xcel Diamond gymnasts competing, Kenadi Carte of Montrose and Mckenzie Phillips of Philippi supported each other with Kenadi taking home first on vault, bars, beam and all-around, and Mckenzie placing first on floor while carding her highest all-around score of the season.

Level 4 gymnast Addie Grubb of Buckhannon took home a first-place medal on beam and floor and placed second all-around.

Level 6 gymnast Pepper Arbogast of Montrose came in first on vault, floor and all-around, and Kaelyn Kirkpatrick of Elkins placed first on bars, second on vault and floor and third all-around.

Lily Hayes of Elkins, the only Level 8 gymnast at the meet, provided some drama needing a 9.30 on her final event (beam) to achieve a 36 all-around score. She confidently executed her routine and stuck her landing for a 9.35 score from the judges.

In addition to individual honors, MGA’s Xcel Bronze squad took home a first- place team banner, and the Xcel Gold and Platinum teams captured second-place banners.

Owner and Head Coach Gail Hayes was pleased with the outcome of the meet.

“These girls work very hard year-round, and I’m so proud of what they’ve accomplished this season. It’s wonderful to host a meet like this that allows extended families to see their gymnasts shine,” she said. “We get so much support from our gym families and local businesses. We really couldn’t do it without them.”

MGA will compete in the WV State Gymnastics Meet at the Henderson Center in Huntington, WV on March 14-16.

Mountain Gymnastics Academy offers beginner to advanced gymnastics training in Elkins for ages 18 months to 18 years. Contact MGA at (681) 298-5077, at www.mgarocks.com or on Facebook.