Valley gymnasts advance to state, national meets

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Neighbors | Submitted.Those Youngstown Gymnastics competitors advancing to regionals in their respective levels are, from top left, Jennifer Sklenar, Hannah Estephan, Faith Anderson, Anna Warhol, Allie Anderson, Jamie Sklenar, Gabby Williams, Mya Kasten and Kailah Vargo.

Gymnasts Anna Warchol (Poland) and Faith Anderson (East Palestine) spent last weekend away from home, as they competed in the USA Gymnastics Level 9 National Championships in Baltimore.

The duo qualified for the meet after placing among the top gymnasts at the regional championships in Indianapolis. That meet featured competitors from Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Kentucky.

Warhol, a seventh-grade student at Boardman Glenwood Middle School, placed fifth All-Around in her age group, scoring a 36.775. Only the top six in each age group qualify to nationals.

Anderson, a seventh-grader at Ohio Virtual Academy, is also a level 9 gymnast. In her age group, she placed seventh All-Around, which qualified her to be the first alternate to the team. She traveled to Baltimore and will compete if one of the team members is unable.

Warchol and Anderson train at Youngstown Gymnastics Center, under the instruction of coach Sandy Sabo and Courtney Schuller. The girls train more than 20 hours per week in the gym.

“The discipline and time management skills that the sport of gymnastics teaches helps students like Anna and Faith to do so well in their studies,” said Sabo. “These girls both began training gymnastics as preschoolers and have both been competing for more than five years.”

Other Youngstown Gymnastics Center gymnasts competing in the regional competition in Indianapolis were Level 10 gymnasts Jennifer Sklenar (Canfield), Allie Anderson (Canfield) and Jessica Jones (Canfield). Also competing in Level 9 was Hannah Estephan (Boardman).

At the state meet, where these girls qualified to this regional competition, Warchol placed sixth All-Around, Anderson placed 10th All-Around and Estephan placed second All-Around in Level 9. In level 10, Jones was the state vault champion and placed second All-Around. Sklenar placed ninth All-Around and Anderson was seventh All-Around.

Youngstown Gymnastics Center will also be represented at the Level 8 Regional competition in Bourbonnais, Ill., near Chicago. Those competing are Kailah Vargo (Canfield), Gabby Williams (Poland), Jamie Sklenar (Canfield) and Mya Kasten (Canfield).