Acro event titles for junior balance, dynamic awarded at 2014 USA Gymnastics Championships
LOUISVILLE, Ky., July 18, 2014 — Three of the 2014 U.S. titles for balance and dynamic in acrobatic gymnastics at the 2014 USA Gymnastics Championships at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Ky., were won by pairs that are 2014 World Age Group Competitions medalists. The World medalist pairs that won both the U.S. balance and dynamic titles are: 12-18 men’s pair – Konstantine Partalas and Collin Davis both of San Antonio, Texas/Aerial Athletics; 12-18 women’s pair – Katarina Partalas and Kathleen Davis, both of San Antonio, Texas/Acrobatic Gymnastics of San Antonio; and 13-19 men’s pair – Bryan Allen, San Jose, Calif., and Brennan Atsatt, Santa Cruz, Calif., both of Aerial Tumbling & Acro Gymnastics. Competition at the KFC Yum! Center continues this evening in trampoline, rhythmic gymnastics and acrobatic gymnastics. The USA Gymnastics Championships, held at both the KFC Yum! Center and Kentucky International Convention Center, is the national championships for trampoline and tumbling, rhythmic gymnastics and acrobatic gymnastics.
The other pairs and groups that won both the balance and dynamic titles are: 12-18 mixed pair – Brianna Foster, San Antonio, Texas, and Joseph McGraw, Plano, Texas, both of Acrobatic Gymnastics of San Antonio; 13-19 women’s pair – Maren Merwarth and Jessica Renteria, both of San Antonio, Texas/Acrobatic Gymnastics of San Antonio; and 13-19 women’s group – Emilia Segel of Reisterstown, Md., Josephina Kievsky of Baltimore, Md., and Londrea Garrett of Columbia, Md., Emilia’s Acro Gymnastics Club.
The remaining junior elite champions from today are as follows.
Women’s group, 12-18
Balance: Neena Deshpande, Hannah Pack and Mikaela Fincannon, all from San Jose, Calif./Aerial Tumbling & Acro Gymnastics
Dynamic: Diana Tatevossian of New Orleans, Donna Tatevossian of Riverside, Calif., and Alexandria Alaman of Fontana, Calif., Realis Gymnastics Academy
Mixed pair, 13-19
Balance: Allison Hughs of New Orleans, and Kenneth Scott-Brown of Chalmette, La., Crescent City Gymnastics
Dynamic: Aisley Boynton and Maxim Sedochenkov, Riverside, Calif./Emilia’s Acro Gymnastics Club
The senior elite sessions for acrobatic gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics and trampoline are scheduled for 6 p.m. July 18-19, with the finals slated for Saturday night, at the KFC Yum! Center. The junior elite sessions for those three events, also at the KFC Yum! Center, begin at 9 a.m. each day. The Junior Olympic sessions for all three disciplines are being held at the Kentucky International Convention Center, and sessions begin at 9 a.m. The finals for elite tumbling and double mini-trampoline are at 9 a.m. on Saturday at the Kentucky International Convention Center.
Evening session tickets at the KFC Yum! Center are: July 17, $20; July 18, $20; and July 19, $25. The all-session pass, which grants access to all sessions at both venues, is $75. A $25, single-day pass is available for the events at the Kentucky International Convention Center onsite on competition days. Tickets may be purchased at the KFC Yum! Center or Kentucky International Convention Center box offices, ticketmaster.com, all Ticketmaster outlets, or by phone at 1-800-745-3000.
Acrobatic gymnastics combines the beauty of dance with the strength and agility of acrobatics. Routines are choreographed to music and consist of dance, tumbling, and partner skills. At the elite level, each pair or group performs a balance, dynamic and combined routine. Pyramids and partner holds characterize the balance routine, while synchronized tumbling and intricate flight elements define the dynamic exercise. An acrobatic gymnastics pair consists of a base and a top. A women’s group is comprised of three athletes – a base, middle and top partner – while a men’s group has four athletes, a base, two middle partners and one top partner.
Rhythmic gymnastics is characterized by grace, beauty and elegance combined with dance and acrobatic elements, while working with ribbons, balls, hoops, ropes and clubs in a choreographed routine to music. The choreography must cover the entire floor and contain a balance of jumps, leaps, pivots and balances. Only four of the apparatus are competed each quad, and the four for 2016 are hoop, ball, clubs and ribbon. Each movement involves a high degree of athletic skill. Physical abilities needed by a rhythmic gymnast include strength, power, flexibility, agility, dexterity, endurance and hand-eye coordination.
Trampoline events involve athletes using trampolines that can propel them up to 30 feet in the air, during which they can perform double and triple twisting somersaults. Tumbling utilizes elevated rod-floor runways that enable athletes to jump at heights more than 10 feet and execute a variety of acrobatic maneuvers. For the double-mini competition, the athlete makes a short run, leaps onto a small two-level trampoline, performs an aerial maneuver and dismounts onto a landing mat. Trampoline was added to the Olympic Games in 2000, and at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, the USA had its first athlete in history advance to the finals.