Gymnasts from Foothills Gymnastics Academy spent Saturday taking part in – and excelling at – the North Carolina AAU state qualifying meet in Hickory. 

Four Xcel Bronze gymnasts – Genevieve Ard, Grace Baglia, Jill Brown and Virginia Then – competed in Hickory. Brown earned first on vault, tied for first on floor, tied for second on beam, third on bars and second all around with 37.375. Ard earned second on bars, fourth on vault, fourth on beam and third all around with 36.90 

Baglia received first on beam with a 9.60, third on vault and fourth all around with 36.755. Despite being sick and out of the gym the previous week, Then earned fourth on bars and 35.60 all around. All Bronze level gymnasts qualified for state. 

On Sunday, FGA sent six gymnasts to Hickory to compete, including three Xcel silver (Reeve Carroll, Zina Ishwar and Anna-Carlisle Keim) and 3 Xcel Gold gymnasts (Eliza Then, Jessica Sizemore and Hurley Bell). 

Despite some much larger teams, FGA’s three Xcel Silver gymnasts finished fourth in the team competition. Carroll earned first on vault with a 9.675, second on floor, third on bars, fourth on beam and first all around with a 38.125. Ishwar received second on vault, fifth on bars, and earned a 37.0 all around. Keim earned first on beam with a 9.775, which is her highest score on beam and the highest for FGA this competition season. She also earned third on floor and second all around with a 37.725. 

Among the Xcel Gold gymnasts, Bell received second on beam, third on bars and second all around with a 37.525. Then earned fourth on beam, seventh on vault and 36.25 all around. Sizemore earned five gold medals and qualified for state. 

FGA’s other Xcel Gold and Silver gymnasts qualified for the state championship at an earlier qualifier. 

– Submitted by PolkSports.com