Members of the Boca Raton based Rising Stars Girls Competitive Gymnastics team

Members of the Boca Raton based Rising Stars Girls Competitive Gymnastics team had an amazing showing at the AAU Gymnastics National Championship earning 125 medals. The girls, in levels 1 through 7, competed at the Walt Disney World Wide World of Sports on June 29-July 2, where gymnasts from around the country vied for medals on vault, uneven bars, balance beam, floor exercise, and the combined All-Around placement.

“This year was our best showing at Nationals since we started attending in 2002. Our girls have been working really hard this year and it shows. This meet was very late in the season this year and we were worried about the kids getting burned out, but remarkably they stayed focused and we had amazing results,” explained head coach Julie Willmott. “ I couldn’t be prouder of the girls and my amazing coaches!”

The gymnasts who traveled to the meet competed in levels 1 through 7 and were divided by age for awards. In all, the team brought home 52 gold, 17 silver, 12 bronze, and 44 copper medals given for top half of the age group. “We have a great group of girls on the team. Three of our athletes swept their age groups winning all four individual events and All Around. We also had five athletes name All American which meant that they had the highest All Around scores over all of the age groups in their session. There may have been as many as 60+ girls that they scored higher than,” Willmott added. “It’s truly amazing how well they’ve done at Nationals year in and year out as a lot of the them are involved in other sports and activities. Most of our athletes are also straight A students. It just goes to show how hard work and dedication pay off.”

Every single athlete we took to this Nationals placed at least once in the top half of her age division. Everyone is so excited about the Olympics and it’s giving them extra motivation to get back in the gym and start preparing for our upcoming season!”

Rising Stars will be hosting its 10th annual Novemberfest meet 11/12 & 11/13. Meanwhile, the gym hosts recreational classes for toddlers through teens year round, and has open gym every Friday night during the school year. Call 561-998-4225 or check out www.gokidschoice.com for information.