Flathead Valley hosts regional gymnasts
The top gymnasts from six western states will be in the Flathead Valley this weekend for three days of intense competition at the 2005 USA Regional Gymnastics Championships.
Action begins daily at 8 a.m. at the Whitefish High School gym. There are also sessions at 1 and 5:30 p.m. Over 400 girls have qualified in various age groups in Levels 8, 9 and 10.
"I hope it will up (the interest in gymnastics around the valley), peak their interest," said Flathead Gymnastics Academy (FGA) co-owner and regional judge Jeanine Henneford.
"The top kids in the region will be here. It's a good opportunity to see (high level competition)."
Admission is $10 per session for adults and $5 for ages 18-and-under. An all-day pass is $15.
Level 8 competes Friday, Level 10 on Saturday and Level 9 on Sunday. A Level 8 team competition will take place Saturday.
This region - Region 2 - consists of six states: Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington. There are eight regions total in the U.S.
Montana will have at least a dozen entrants in the regional with Allison Eudy, 18, a senior at Flathead High School and a FGA member, competing in Level 8. Eudy is a specialist, meaning she has qualified in just one event - the bars.
Gymnasts also compete in beam, vault and floor. Those doing all four disciplines earn an all-around score.
Gymnasts had to post qualifying scores at state competitions to advance to this championship. For Montana athletes, that was earlier this month at the state meet in Missoula.
Montana's other regional qualifiers are from Billings, Bozeman, Circle, Great Falls, Missoula and Sidney.
Regional winners here in the various age groups advance to Westerns for Level 9 and Nationals for Level 10. Westerns are set for May 6-8 in St. Louis and Nationals May 13-15 in Ontario, Calif.
Emily Long of Whitefish, competing for FGA, won the regional bar competition two years ago. She also went to nationals.
Henneford said they bid on hosting regional two years ago, assuming that Long and Eudy would be in their prime for this event.
Long's career, however, was cut short by a back injury and Eudy has struggled with a foot injury.
FGA was hoping to have a second regional qualifier, but Amanda Weigand, 15, a freshman at Kalispell Junior High School, suffered an ankle injury in her first event - floor exercise - at state. Weigand, based on her previous scores, was a shoo-in for the regional.
Weigand is currently on standby status, meaning she could compete in regionals if a Montana athlete pulls out.
However Weigand, along with FGA's Andrea Ekegren, 13, a seventh grader at Helena Flats School, will compete Sunday after the regional in a Level 7 Invitational, set to begin at 4 p.m. at WHS.