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Thirty-five gymnasts traveled to the USA Gymnastics National Team Training Center at Karolyi Ranch, an official U.S. Olympic training site, in Huntsville, Texas, to participate at the March Developmental Camp. Under the direction of Olympic gold medalist Valeri Liukin and our national coaching staff, the gymnasts trained twice a day while the coaches attended lectures after each training session. The camp opened with physical abilities testing on strength and conditioning. Top three scores were Megan Freed of Parkettes, followed by Gabrielle Perea of Legacy Elite and Christina Desiderio from Parkettes in third place.
During the camp, gymnasts were able to qualify through verification for the American and U.S. Classics. The top-three all around winners for the Hopes Division were Elena Arenas from Georgia Elite, first, followed by Riley Juarez, Precision Gymnastics, and in third place was Shania Adams, Buckeye Gymnastics. The top three junior elites were Emily Gaskins, Cincinnati Gymnastics, Jordan Chiles, Naydenov Gymnastics and Molly Frack from Parkettes Gymnastics.
The two judges for elite qualification were 2005 World all-around champion and 2008 Olympic silver medalist Chellsie Memmel and 1988 Olympian Chelle Stack-Marcella. The camp saw many returning national team members as coaches and even daughters of former national team members, including 2004 Olympic silver medalist Courtney McCool, now a coach at Cincinnati Gymnastics, and 1980 Olympian Beth Kline-Rybacki from Charter Oaks Gymnastics. Sydney JohnsonAca a