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PLANO, TX: Going up against gymnasts from seven states is no easy feat when competing for a spot at the Junior Olympic (JO) National Championships, but two local athletes made the cut and will be on their way to the culminating meet of their Level 10 season.
Abbie Epperson, Makenzie Johnson and Casey Dreyer competed at the Region 3 Championships in Bartlesville, Oklahoma April 13-14, with Epperson and Johnson qualifying to JO Nationals in Hampton, Virginia in May.
Both Epperson and Johnson had very similar performances even though they competed on different days. Johnson competed in the Senior D division Friday morning, and Epperson in the Junior D division Saturday morning, both with floor exercise as their first event. Both had good solid performances with no falls or major mistakes, but received low scores, as is typical on the first event of a competition. Scores for equivalent performances on the same event typically rise during the meet. Johnson earned a 9.075 and Epperson a 9.05 out of a possible 10.
The next two events went well for both gymnasts. On vault, Johnson won fourth place in her session, with a score of 9.45. Epperson took seventh (9.425) in her age group. Then it was on to uneven parallel bars where Epperson earned a silver medal with a score of 9.7. Johnson came in sixth place with a 9.45. However she injured her heel on the double back dismount.
The last event was balance beam. With the injury, Johnson had a hard time staying on the beam for her front aerial, and scored an 8.525 with a fall. Epperson also fell, scoring an 8.95.
“Even though I made some mistakes,” admitted Johnson, “I feel I did my best and my hard work paid off.
Despite falls on the final event, both girls took seventh place all-around to earn the last qualifying spots to go to Nationals. Epperson’s total score was 37.125, while Johnson earned 36.5 all-around.
"I knew I was in a really tough age group at regionals, so it was important that I had a great meet to qualify (to nationals),” said Epperson. “I'm so excited to compete at nationals with all the best gymnasts in the country!"
Dreyer competed Friday afternoon in the Senior B division, and was up against tough competition as several opponents had previously competed Elite and then moved down to Level 10. She earned seventh place on vault with a 9.475, and earned 9.2 on floor, 9.125 on beam and 8.6 on bars. She came in 14th place all-around.
Johnson, a senior at Allen High School, signed a scholarship offer to compete for Brigham Young University starting Fall 2012. Epperson, a sophomore at Allen, and Dreyer, a junior at Plano West, hope to earn Division I college athletic scholarships as well.
All three girls train at Elite Champion Gymnastics in Plano, which is owned by Epperson’s parents, Mike and Lisa. Marcus Harlin and Tammy De Guzman coach Epperson, while Johnson and Dreyer are coached by Helen Verucchi and Anatoli Toropov.
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