MAIA, Portugal, March 8, 2009 – The USA earned two medals, one silver and one bronze, at the 2009 Maia International Acro Cup in Maia, Portugal. The 12-19 year-old mixed pair of Eirian Smith and Jake Kanavel of San Jose, Calif./Aerial Tumbling & AcroGymnastics, finished second in the junior division, and the 11-16 year-old women’s group of Kendall Meyer of Silver Spring, Md., Erica Prestipino of Rockville, Md., and MacKenzie Meyer of Olney, Md./Xtreme Acro & Cheer, earned the bronze medal in the age-group competition.
In the final round, Smith and Kanavel posted a 27.050 to claim the silver medal in junior mixed pairs, and Meyer, Prestipino and Meyer finished third in age-group women’s group competition with a total score of 27.650.
The 12-19 year-old women’s group of Tiana Terry, Alayna Davis and Elika Sudo, all of San Jose/Aerial Tumbling & AcroGymnastics, finished fourth in the junior category and missed earning the bronze medal by just one tenth of a point with their score of 26.200.
The Maia Cup featured more than 200 acrobatic gymnasts from Belgium, Great Britain, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Spain, Switzerland and the USA. Pairs and groups competed one balance and one dynamic routine in the qualification rounds on March 6-7. In the finals on March 8, age group participants chose between a balance or dynamic exercise, while junior and senior athletes performed a combined routine. All scores started from zero in the finals.