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Davis Diamonds Finish Season Strong

Against the strongest competition all year, Davis gymnasts stepped up with some of their best performances all season in the 2008 Golden State Classic held in Rancho Cordova, March 15 -17. Performing for strong panels of judges, with many medals decided by less than 0.10, Davis Diamonds' Krista Anderson won the level 8 beam and finished second all-around, Sianna de la Cruz placed third both on the beam and in the level 7 all-around, where Devin Brady and Kiki Solano won respectively vault and beam bronzes. This years Golden State Classic, a Junior Olympics sanctioned event, attracted over 800 gymnasts represented 85 teams from all over the western United States and including the Australian National Team. This was the last competition for these gymnasts before their State Championships.

For the first time, Krista Anderson competed a piked Tsukahara and was rewarded with the best vault score of her career, 8.95, fifth. This vault is one-and-a-half piked salto off a cartwheel on the vaulting table and is the most difficult vault permitted in level 8. Anderson also performed another beautiful bar routine to 9.275, third. Her gold medal beam routine featured giant leaps and jumps as well as acrobatic tumbling. Anderson's total of 36.5 was a personal best on this level and placed her second behind Sadiqua Bynum, Head Over Heels-Emeryville with Alyssa Montalban, Byer's Sacramento, third. Davis Diamond Chloe Shorts qualified for States with 32.35, her best score to date, in eighth all-around, despite three falls on beam. Mallory Barnes placed right behind in tenth. In the oldest division, Kasia Shebloski confirmed her progress and potential with a fifth place on bars and a 33.85 total all-around, ninth. This score is tantalizing close to the 34.0 qualification score for Regionals that must be made in the State Championships in two weeks. Alex Levine made two scores over 8.0 for the first time for her best level 8 meet and twelvth place all-around. By several years the youngest level 8 in the session, Gaelyn Walche also confirmed her potential with a personal best 35.575 all-around, tenth. Walche also successfully vaulted a piked Tsukahara and earned 9.1 for the first time for her bars performance. This division was won by Quetzal Moreno, Byers' Sacramento, with 37.1.

Once again, Kiki Solano was best of the Davis Diamonds level 7 gymnasts in their session. Rock solid on beam as she has been all season, Solano placed third on this event with 9.25. Another charming floor performance with powerful tumbling to "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" was rewarded with 9.425. Only a mistake on bars, her first all season, kept Solano back in eighth place all-around (36.075). Teammate Brooke Rosenblum also had solid performances on three events, but falling on her back handspring on the beam put her right behind Solano in ninth all-around (35.925). Lily Wolfe showed her improvement on three events but a fall on bars lowered her total to 34.25, thirteenth. This division was won by Maya Guiterrez-San Mateo Gymnastics with 37.775. In the intermediate age division, Devin Brady had her best meet to date, scoring 9.025 for her vault (third) and her beam performance (eighth) for the first time. Brady's total of 35.45 was a new personal best and good for eighth place all-around, just before States. Courtney Meyer also had her best meet ever as an optional gymnast, earning a 9.15 for her beautiful and powerful floor routine (seventh) as well as a personal best 34.875 (ninth all-around). In the oldest division, Sianna de la Cruz was in the first meet of her life but performed like a veteran, scoring over 9.0 on three events, including third on beam and all-around. In her first try, de la Cruz qualified for the State Championships. Also going to States will be Irene Whalen who hit every routine for the first time, placing sixth on beam as well as a personal best 35.4, seventh all-around. Every Davis Diamonds level 7 teammember qualified for the State Championships in two weeks.

Breakthrough in Santa Clara

Davis Diamonds gymnasts won many medals at the 2008 Spirit of the Flame Challenge on March 1 and 2. Krista Anderson won bars in level 8, Lily Wolfe won vault in level 7, and Kiki Solano won both bars and floor in level 7. The Davis Diamonds level 7 team won beam and floor, placing second over-all by just 0.025, the smallest possible margin, to Head Over Heels-Emeryville. "This was a break-through meet for us," commented head coach Hilde Aune. "In just our fifth year, we showed we can compete with the strongest. These results are a great testament to the talent of Davis kids and the effort of our gymnasts and coaches." The Spirit of the Flame Challenge is a premier Junior Olympic gymnastics competition. This year's competition attracted strong teams and athletes from all over California as well as Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Wyoming, and Oklahoma to the Santa Clara Convention Center. Celebrity judges are invited to serve on the panels, this year including olympian Linda Mulivhill, Pat Warren, Donna Smith, and Diane Amos, coach of Olympic gold medalist Amy Chow.

In the youngest level 7 age division, Kiki Solano started by swinging a spectacular set on bars, featuring tight handstands and big, fast giant swings. The judges flashed 9.275. Solano also received the same score for her joyful floor performance that also featured powerful tumbling. These were the highest scores of the meet for these two events, regardless of age. Solano totaled 36.4 all-around, placing second to Rachel Perper-Marin Elite. In her first season competing level 7, Solano has not placed lower than fifth all-around, winning three meets outright of five. This is amazing consistancy for a rookie optional gymnast. Another Davis Diamonds' rookie, Brooke Rosenblum was the youngest level 7 in the session, but earned scores over 9.0 for all four of her performances for the first time. Rosenblum's all-around total of 36.275 was good for fourth, in addition to second place on bars and third on vault. This event was won by Lily Wolfe for a flying handspring (9.025). Only a lapse in concentration on bars held Wolfe back to seventh all-around, but with a career high total of 34.825. In the 12-13 year old division, Davis Diamonds Irene Whalen and Devin Brady placed respectively second and third on beam behind Maddison Pannell-Four Stars Gymnastics. Brady finished sixth all-around with Whalen in eighth. Amanda Braun went feet-to-feet through four events for her best result ever (32.65 all-around, twelvth). This result qualified Braun to her very first State Championships ever. All six Davis Diamonds level 7s stayed on the beam.

In the oldest level 8 competition, Krista Anderson started her meet by swinging the best bar routine of her career. Clean handstands and big swings earned her 9.5, first. Several uncharacteristic wobbles during beam kept Anderson in third all-around (35.75) despite earning 9.025 for her floor performance. The all-around winner was Libby Fogel, Pacific West Gymnastics-Union City (36.175). Alex Levine scored 8.3 on floor for the first time competing level 8. In the youngest division, Davis Diamonds gymnast Gaelyn Walche was also strong on bars, placing second. Walche also stuck beam (9.05, fourth) to finish third all-around. This division was won by Anya Barca-Hall, Pacific West.

Competing with a painfully bruised foot, Ria Domier competed in the show-case level 10 meet Saturday night. Domier showed grit and determination to score 9.1 on vault and 9.0 for her floor routine. Both scores were good for eighth places in just Domier's second level 10 competition. Despite falling on every attempt during the warm-up, when it counted Domier landed her handspring one-and-a-half front salto vault with just one step on the landing. Fighting through pain, she stuck all the tumbling passes of her floor routine. Only falls on bars and beam kept her back in fifteenth place all-around. All-around winner was Janelle Giblin-Airborne Santa Clara. Earlier that same day, Domier, a DHS sophomore, had also represented her High School in a science competition in Sacramento.

Davis Diamonds Shine in San Francisco

Davis Diamonds' gymnasts Kiki Solano, Brooke Rosenblum, Ria Domier, Devin Brady, Gaelyn Walche, Irene Wahlen, Courtney Meyer, Alex Levine, and Amanda Braun were brilliant in the 2008 Gold Country Classic, held in the Herbst Pavillion, Fort Mason, San Francisco, February 16. This annual Junior Olympics sanctioned event attracted strong teams from all over northern California and Nevada. "Competing against Bay Area teams is always tough. These teams are by invitation only whereas Davis Diamonds accepts any gymnast who wants to try. That we are able hang in there is a credit to the talent and effort of Davis kids and the hard work and dedication of our coaches," commented Davis Diamonds head coach Hilde Aune.

Once again, Kiki Solano lead the Davis Diamonds level 7 team, scoring a new personal best all-around of 36.625, good for fifth in the youngest division. Solano vaulted her best handspring this season, as well as second place for her solid beam performance (9.35). All-around winner was Heather Hovander, Diablo-San Ramon with 37.225, which was also the highest total of the meet, regardless of age. Right behind Solano in sixth all-around was Davis Diamonds teammate Brooke Rosenblum, also with a new record 36.525. The best of Rosenblum's performances was 9.075 for her bars, good for fourth and a personal best. Courtney Meyer was on her way to a top score on beam when she fell on her full turn, at least 0.5 deduction, but was still awarded 8.725 for her performance. Meyer finished with 34.15 all-around. Only a fall on beam kept Amanda Braun from qualifying for her first State Championships, but the season is not over.

In the Junior Division, Devin Brady continued to improve with her best meet to date. Brady broke the 9.0 barrier for the first time with 9.1 on vault. She also placed fourth on beam for sticking her beam routine, and totaled 35.00 all-around, a personal best. Right behind in seventh all-around with 34.5 was Irene Whalen, who advanced to fourth on both bars and floor. Despite tough judging, Whalen was awarded her first 9.075 ever for her floor performance. Winner in this division was Brooke Osborn, Diablo-San Ramon with 36.95.

Davis Senior High sophomore Ria Domier competed her very first meet as a level 10, the highest level in the Junior Olympic program. Two falls on beam marred an otherwise successful debut. But Domier placed second on floor with a performance that featured powerful tumbling, including a stuck double back flip. In her first try, Domier qualified for the level 10 State Championships in April.

Among the youngest level 8 gymnasts, Gaelyn Walche's goal was to perform for the first time a new vault, a piked Tsukahara, the most difficult vault permitted at this level. This vault features a one-and-a-half back piked salto off the vaulting table and Walche successfully performed it to seventh place. Walche finished in seventh all-around as did her teammate in the senior division, Alex Levine.

Solano and Diamonds Sparkle in Vacaville

Davis Diamonds' gymnast Kiki Solano performed another set of great gymnastics routines during the 2008 Aerials Invitational, a Junior Olympics sanctioned event in Vacaville, on January 26. Solano won beam, floor, and the all-around for level 7 ahead of Alicia Sontag, Redwood Empire-Petaluma. The scores awarded for Solano's floor and all-around were the highest of the meet, for every age group and level, as well as new personal bests. She totaled 35.55 all-around. Solano's flirtacous dance to "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" as well as powerful tumbling received 9.225 from a set of some of the most prestigious judges in northern California. She could have walked upright under her last flip.
Solano's teammate Devin Brady scored over 8.0 on every event for the first time, placing seventh on vault, bars, and floor, as well as fifth on beam, for a personal best 33.8 all-around, sixth. Right behind was fellow Davis Diamond Lily Wolfe who performed the best meet of her life. Wolfe placed second on vault for her flying handspring and third on bars. Wolfe's bar set included a clear-hip circle to handstand on the high bar and a flyaway flip dismount above the high bar. Only a fall on beam held her down to seventh all-around (33.65). Nevertheless, this score was also a personal best total. Teammate Brianna Sperry also had to count a fall on beam. Still working the kinks out of her new routines, Sperry finished tenth all-around with 32.60.
Davis Diamonds' level 8 gymnasts Gaelyn Walche, Alex Levine, and Maya Giannetti improved on individual events but struggled with others. High-point was Walche sticking her beam routine, including the acrobatic series of back walkover-back handspring, to place third there. The Davis Diamonds gymnasts placed third as a team behind Redwood Empire and Athletics Unlimited-Anderson.

Davis Diamonds Dominate in Oroville

Davis Diamonds gymnasts dominated the 2008 Winter Blast held January 19 and 20 in the Oroville Gymnastics Academy, site of the 2008 State Level 8, 9, and 10 Championships. Winter Blast in Oroville is a Junior Olympics sanctioned event that marks the start of the optional gymnastics season for many teams in northern California. As a team, the Davis Diamonds level 7 female gymnasts won every event as well as the team crown. In her first meet as an optional gymnast, Kiki Solano placed second on bars, beam, as well as floor, to win the all-around with 35.525. With the poise of a veteran, Solano performed all of her routines for the first time in competition, but without counting a major deduction or fall. Teammate Brooke Rosenblum, also in her first meet, suffered a fall on beam, but came back to win floor, place second on vault, and third on bars. Rosenblum's total of 35.5 was the second highest of the meet, regardless of age class. Even though they competed in the youngest age class, Solano and Rosenblum had the two highest all-around totals of the meet. The highest beam score was also awarded in the youngest age class, to Davis Diamonds' Courtney Meyer. Her beam performance was fast, sharp, and steady. Meyer also placed third on vault and fourth all-around (34.575). Also debuting in level 7, Amanda Braun hit beam (seventh) and placed ninth all-around. The older age class was won by Katie Lamb, Athletics Unlimited-Anderson, with 34.60. But Davis Diamond Irene Whalen, in her first optional meet, placed second on beam, and tied for third all-around with Allie Rasmussen, Gymweavers-Lodi with 34.35. Whalen also performed all four of her routines without a fall or major error. Brianna Sperry was awarded second place (9.05) by the judges for her floor performance and totaled 32.95 all-around, eighth. Another debutant, Devin Brady placed fifth on vault and fourth for her floor performance to tie with her teammate Sperry all-around. Of the eight members of this Davis Diamonds' level 7 team, seven qualified for the State Championships later this spring, and the eighth just missed the qualifying score by just 0.5.
Among the youngest level 8 gymnasts, Davis Diamonds' Gaelyn Walche rose from her sick bed to place second on bars and sixth all-around despite the flu. This class was won by Kaytlin Tigert, Technique Gymnastics-Rancho Cordova (36.25). In the older division, Davis Diamonds' Maya Giannetti also placed second, but for her beam performance (9.05) which was fast and sharp, with a steady back walkover to back handspring connection. In her first level 8 competition, Giannetti placed sixth all-around with 33.725. Also qualifying for States in her first try was Kasia Shebloski in eighth. Other Davis Diamonds' debutante Chloe Shorts was right behind followed by Alex Levine and Mallory Barnes. These Davis Diamonds level 8 gymnasts placed second in the team competition behind Technique Gymnastics.

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