By Lori Brown
MONTICELLO — The Monticello Gymnastics Club held its 24th annual exhibition Friday night in the Monticello High School gymnasium.
Village of Monticello Parks and Recreation Department Director Betsy Conaty served as the master of ceremonies for the exhibition. She thanked all the parents for showing their support and thanked everyone for coming and raising money. She also thanked the kids for all their hard work.
The team families belong to a booster club which raises money to purchase and maintain all of the equipment used by the gymnasts.
The Monticello Gymnastics Club is funded partly by the Village of Monticello. The village also pays for two excellent coaches, Pete Tweed and his daughter, Amanda Tweed.
The gymnastics club also allows out-of-towners to join. These non-residents pay extra to join the club.
The “Tutti-Frutties,” a group of young girls, began Friday night’s exhibition with a dance routine. The girls’ Level 4, 5, 6, and 7 gymnasts then performed their compulsory routines.
Following these routines, the tiny tots showed off their newly learned skills of tumbling and balance beam walking. Next on the agenda was the Pre-K and Kindergarten class showing off their jumps and tumbles.
The members of the girls’ Level 4 team showed their dance routine.
The first grade class was next, then the girls’ Level 5 dance team performed its routine.
The second and third grade girls showed off their talents, the girls’ Level 6 team were up next, followed by the mixed sixth grade and above class.
Just before intermission the girls’ Level 7 team performed its dance routine.
Intermission featured a Cheer Routine presented by the Spirit Elite All Stars. These four cheerleaders are coached by Kelly Keesler.
The show was going smoothly up to that point. But Meghan Jefferson of the girls’ Level 5 team landed wrong while doing a floor routine. Jefferson was quickly picked up by Coach Pete Tweed and her parents took her to the hospital as a precaution.
“I hope she feels better,” Pete Tweed said.
The second part of the evening started off with the boys’ Levels 4, 5, and 8 team doing their compulsory routines and vault.
Next were the out-of-towners mixed class. The boys’ second grade and above class performed, then the boys’ Levels 4, 5 and 8 team had its dance routine.
The last group to perform was girls’ fourth, fifth, and sixth grade class.
At the end of the evening, the gymnasts took advantage of the opportunity to do some open tumbling.
Some accomplishments by the gymnasts during this season included: Brandon Blakney (Level 4 boys) receiving seven medals, Daniel England (Level 4 boys) earning four medals during states, Allison Stein (Level 4 girls) was named the first place champion and was the highest scorer on bars at the state meet and Catherine Dean (Level 6 girls) qualified for the sectional and state meets.
For more information about the Monticello Gymnastics Club’s six-week summer program or its school year program, call Conaty at 794-2351.