DALLAS, Texas, Aug. 13, 2009 – The first day of acrobatic gymnastics competition at the 2009 Visa Championships concluded with senior and age group 12-19 competing balance routines, one of the three routines scored in the all-around to determine the 2009 national champions.
Kailey Maurer of Fontana, Calif., Holli Morris of Beaumont, Calif., and Crystal Johnston of Riverside, Calif./Empire lead the senior women’s group with a score of 27.140.
The senior mixed-pair in front after one routine with 27.810 is Sienna Martinez of Riverside, Calif., and Ryan Ward of Corona, Calif./Realis Gymnastics Academy. 2009 World Games mixed-pair gold-medalists Kristin Allen and Michael Rodrigues of Livermore, Calif./West Coast Training Center, sit in third with a 23.440.
Axl Osborne and Dylan Inserra of Richardson, Texas/WOGA, scored a 24.700 to top men’s pair.
Aerial Tumbling & AcroGymnastics women’s group Alexa Vitale, Kelly Phillips, and Jessica Picone of San Jose, Calif., are first in the 12-19 age group with 27.650. Eirian Smith and Jake Kanavel, also of San Jose, Calif./Aerial Tumbling & AcroGymnastics, lead in the 12-19 mixed-pair with a 27.800, while Valerie Bryant and Hayley Lemmons of Boerne, Texas/Boerne Gymnastics Center, lead women’s pair with a 22.150.
Age 11-16 gymnasts performed two routines, balance and dynamic. Leading the women’s group are Jesse Kelly of San Jose, Calif., Alyssa Liardon of Morgan Hill, Calif., and Brooke Rhoades of San Jose, Calif./Aerial Tumbling & AcroGymnastics, with a 54.650. Kendall Meyer of Silver Spring, Md., Erica Prestipino of Rockville, Md., and Mackenzie Meyer of Silver Spring, Md./Xtreme Acro, are in second with 54.400, and Cameron Jones, Michelle Banowsky, and Scottie Miller of San Antonio, Texas/USA Aerial Athletics, sit in third with a combined score of 52.600.
Mariah Cockshell of Lee’s Summit, Mo., and Kennedy Swanson of Blue Springs, Mo./Acro Explosion, are first in women’s pair in the 11-16 division with 53.950. Power Club Express’s Ashlyn Jarvis and Allie DeGuire of St. Louis, Mo., landed in second with a score of 53.600, and Maren Merwarth and Taylor Mosher of San Antonio, Texas/Browns Gymnastics, finished day one in third place with a score of 53.550.