Strivers’ Silvers Win Back-to-Back State Titles

(From left) The Door County YMCA Strivers’ state-champion Xcel Silver team includes, front row, Delaney Allen, Keira Clark, Greta Virgin, middle row, Brinley Newton, Ellie Kelsey, Lauren Gaida, Sawyer Soukup, back row, Coach Nikki Pollman, Evelynn Kelsey, Destiny Romero. Submitted.

The Door County YMCA Strivers competed last weekend in the YMCA state gymnastics championships at the Fond du Lac Y, where 13 teams from Wisconsin participated.

The Strivers’ Xcel Silver team won its second consecutive state title. They also won 10 individual state titles and placed first in the all-around competition in all three age brackets.

Leading the Silvers was Ellie Kelsey (9 and under) who finished first in the floor, vault, beam, bars and the all-around competition. Evelynn Kelsey (12 and up) won the all-around and beam and recorded two second places and one fifth. Sawyer Soukup (10-11) earned gold in the all-around and vault, and silver on bars and floor.

Winning silver in the all-around was Brinley Newton (10-11) and Lauren Gaida (12 and up). Newton earned gold on the beam and bronze on the bars. Gaida placed first on vault, third on bars and also recorded a fourth- and ninth-place finish.

Delaney Allen (10-11) and Keira Clark (12 and up) placed fourth in the all-around. Clark won silver on the beam and bronze on the floor. Allen placed sixth on the floor and seventh on the vault and beam. Greta Virgin placed third on the beam and fifth on the floor. Destiny Romero (12 and up) finished fourth on beam, sixth on vault, ninth in the all-around, and 10th on floor. All nine Xcel Silver gymnasts finished in the top ten. The Xcel Silver team had a score of 113.85 to win the state title.

In the Level 7 competition, the Strivers had three competitors – Portia Hah, Estelle Duerst,and Amira Anschutz. Hah placed fourth on bars, seventh in the all-around and eighth on vault. Duerst placed seventh in the all-around and on the beam. Anschutz placed fifth on vault, seventh on bars and eighth in the all-around.

Competing in the Platinum division in the open age group (12-18) was Shaylyn Asher, who placed sixth in the all-around.

The Strivers will begin focusing on the YMCA National Gymnastics Championships that will take place June 20-24 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. All 13 team members qualified for the tournament.