The final meet of 2019 for the Gem City’s tumblers was in Canton, IL and they did not disappoint. The team was lead by five of our advanced and elite athletes who earned four 1st place finishes and one 2nd place finish. It was quite the day.
Giving back to your community is important! We held a Giving Tuesday donation challenge with our team athletes and coaches. We encouraged our athletes to donate $1 to $5 to a cause they cared about and Gem City matched each dollar up to $5 for each athlete’s donation.
Gem City’s tumbling team competed at their first competition of the year in Rock Island, Illinois. There were several top three finishes.
Zeke Cernea, head tumbling coach and co-owner, was elected onto the Executive Board of the United States Trampoline And Tumbling Association (USTA) Executive board. He will serve one of seven board members helping shape the bright future of USTA.
Nineteen athletes from Gem City’s tumbling team traveled to Charleston, West Virginia, for the 2019 National Championships of the United States Tumbling and Trampoline Association (USTA) on June 17-22. Nationals had over 2,100 athletes from 147 teams competing 4,500 events.
Gem City’s novice girls tumbling team earned a first place trophy in their division. Plus, there were several top 10 individual finishes. Gem City’s tumbling team coaches are Zeke Cernea, Laci Heller, Anne Nash, and Lydia Schrand.
Gem City has 19 athletes out of the 25 that qualified at State advancing on to United States Trampoline & Tumbling Association (USTA) National Championships. It’ll be held in Charleston, West Virginia, on June 17-22.
Bree Barnes will graduate from Quincy Senior High School this year. She is the daughter of Brian and Cinda Barnes and a part of the Gem City family for almost 12 years. She was on gymnastics team, tumbling team, and just this past year on the Gem City All-Star squad. In 2012, Bree qualified and competed in the AAU Junior Olympics.
Sophia Soltwedel, long-time presence at Gem City as an athlete and employee, will graduate from Quincy Senior High School this year. She tumbled at the gym for 10 years, competing for seven of those years on the Tumbling Team. Sophia also danced for 10 years at Beth Heinze Dance Academy and was very involved in high school.
Twenty-seven of Gem City’s tumbling athletes traveled to Springfield for the 2019 USTA Southern Illinois State Championships on April 28, 2019. Five athletes earned state championships!
Twenty-four of Gem City’s tumblers competed in Monmouth, Illinois, on April 14. Our advanced girls swept the age 11-12 division when they earned the top 3 places.