© Team Photo

DES MOINES, May 16, 2015 – All-around champions for the Junior C, Junior D, Senior C and Senior D divisions were crowned today, as the 2015 U.S. Women’s Junior Olympic Championships concluded in Des Moines. The competition was held at the Iowa Events Center. Region III won the Super Team title, totaling 48 points. Region V and VIII tied for second place, both earning 46 points.

In Senior D, Alicia Boren of North Stars took the all-around crown, giving her four straight Junior Olympic all-around wins.

The top three in each division were as follows.

  • Junior C: 1. Rachael Lukacs of North Stars, 38.375; 2. Abby Brenner of Twin City Twisters, 38.350; 3. Alexandria Ruiz of ACE, 38.300.
  • Junior D: 1. Alexia Burch of Gym Nevada, 38.300; 2. Lauren Farley of WOGA, 38.125; 3. Catherine Rogers of Epic Gym, 38.100.
  • Senior C: 1. Macy Toronjo of Texas Dreams, 38.650; 2. MaKenna Merrell of All-American Gymnastics, 38.625, Maddie Karr of Twin City Twisters, 38.400.
  • Senior D: 1. Alicia Boren of North Stars, 38.800; 2. Kirah Koshinski of Northeast Gymnastics Academy, 38.475; 3. Emma McLean of Stars and Stripes, 38.350.

The Junior Olympic National Championships is the culmination event for the competitive season. The competition features eight age divisions (Junior A, Junior B, Junior C, Junior D, Senior A, Senior B, Senior C and Senior D), which are determined by birth date. These gymnasts are vying to become Junior Olympic national champions in the all-around, as well as in all four events: vault, uneven bars, balance beam and floor exercise.

USA Gymnastics has eight regions, and the top seven gymnasts from each region’s Regional Championships advanced to nationals. The top four all-around athletes in each age division also qualify to the 2015 Junior Olympic National Team and are invited to attend a National Training Camp at the USA Gymnastics National Team Training Center at the Karolyi Ranch, a U.S. Olympic Training Site, in Huntsville, Texas.

The Des Moines Area Sports Commission and Booster Club of Chow’s Gymnastics and Dance Institute are the local organizations working with USA Gymnastics on staging the event.

The U.S. Junior Olympic National Championships is one of the national championships of USA Gymnastics, the sport’s national governing body in the United States. Many Junior Olympic champions have gone on to make the U.S. National Team and represent the United States in international competition and/or to compete in collegiate gymnastics. Many of the country’s top gymnasts are former participants in the Junior Olympic program, including 2012 Olympic team champions Jordyn Wieber and Kyla Ross, 2009 World vault champion Kayla Williams, 2008 Olympic team silver-medalists Shawn Johnson and Samantha Peszek, and 2004 Olympic team silver-medalist Courtney McCool, to name a few.

The Junior Olympic NIT was developed to allow an additional 192 athletes an opportunity to compete at the national level and features gymnasts who ranked eighth and ninth in the all-around in each of the eight age divisions at the Level 10 Regional Championships (provided they achieved a minimum all-around score), plus any Regional individual event champions who did not qualify to the Junior Olympic Nationals or the Junior Olympic NIT in the all-around. The two competition sessions on Sunday are 9 a.m. for Junior and Senior A and B, and 1 p.m. for Junior and Senior C and D.

The states that comprise each region are: Region 1 — Arizona, California, Nevada, Utah; Region 2 – Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington; Region 3 – Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, Wyoming; Region 4 – Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin; Region 5 – Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio; Region 6 – Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont; Region 7 – Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia; and Region 8 – Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee.