Press Releases
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Gary Reed, Director, St. Mary’s County Gymnastics Center
St. Mary’s County Department of Recreation & Parks
21770 FDR Boulevard
Lexington Park, Maryland
301-866-6560
COULD ST. MARY’S COUNTY, MD., HARBOR A FUTURE OLYMPIAN?
Local Gymnasts Capture 5 Medals Each (10 Total) At Season’s Opening Competition
December 21, 2009 – Lexington Park, MD.
On December 5th and 6th, Jordan Martin (age 13) and Delaney Madden (age 14), won 7 First Place medals and 3 Second Place medals (a clean sweep of a possible 10 medals!) in every gymnastic event at their skill level. The first competition of the season, the Mason Dixon Gymnastics League Meet, held in Frederick, Maryland, featured 4 events: Balance Beam, Floor Exercise, Uneven Parallel Bars and Vaulting – with a fifth award category for Best All-Around Gymnast.
Jordan Martin, newly-promoted to the 13-year-old age group, took First Place in Floor Exercise, Uneven Parallel Bars, Vaulting and Best Overall Gymnast for her skill level/age group. Her only Second Place medal came from the Balance Beam event according to her team coaches Kate Rowe and Heather Reed.
Delaney Madden, oldest and most skilled of the St. Mary’s Mason Dixon Team, won First Place in Floor Exercise, Uneven Parallel Bars and Best Overall Gymnast. She received Second Place in Balance Beam and Vaulting Box, said Kate and Heather.
In addition to the medals won by Jordan and Delaney, four other St. Mary’s team members received a total of one Third Place medal and six Ribbons for placing Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Eighth and Ninth in the four events.
“No one else had six members on the same team place,” Heather says, smiling. “Every girl did very well; each was solid and showed confidence.”
Jordan, Delaney and their team-mates practice three times a week at the St. Mary’s Gymnastic Center in Lexington Park, Maryland.
Run by the County’s Department of Recreation and Parks, the exhilaration and challenge of gymnastics is available to toddlers through high school and beyond.
“We start everyone out just having fun,” Heather explains. “Then the ones that are interested progress into competition levels. The girls in our Mason Dixon Team concentrate on performing the skills that they need for their skill level – and we’ll teach them some higher skills as well when they are ready.”
She pauses then adds, “Jordan sets a good example for the rest of our girls. She’s concentrating on being the best she can be and she’ll do whatever she has to in practice.”
Proudly wearing her five medals, Jordan’s modest greeting to her family after the competition was, “I’m really tired.”
Overall the Mason Dixon Competition gave this team an excellent start to the 2009-2010 Gymnastics Season.
And when you consider the amazing quality of this little-known County-run gymnastics program, the skills of the coaches plus the sheer determination, exuberance and support among the young athletes themselves…
…The chances of an Olympic Gymnast emerging from this little-known program in St. Mary’s County appear quite good.
For further information please contact the Gymnastic Center in Lexington Park at 301-862-1462.
Jordan Martin on Balance Beam
(photo by Blair Martin)
Jordan Martin on the Uneven Bars
(photo by Blair Martin)
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