Twisters gymnastics teams shine at state tournaments

JuJu Gielau of Twisters Gymnastics won four titles at the Iowa State Championships March 26-28 in Grimes.

Gielau won the vault, bars, balance beam and all around in Level 6.

Olivia Poppen, a graduating senior in Level 9 captured three gold medals - vault, beam and all around.

Amalisa Harris won two Level 7 titles (floor exercise) and all around.

Other Twisters winners were Aubrey Langton (vault) in Level 5, Rowan Murray (beam) in Level 7, and Aubrey Gilliland (bars) and Adeline Snyder (floor) in Level 10.

Twisters placewinners were Nataleigh LeClere and Calloway Kline in Level 4; Reese Fleming, Elsie Ledger and Sam Hein in Level 6; Lainey Phippen, Mia Frame, Audrey Beatty and Ashley Meyers in Level 8; Ava Van Berkum in Level 9; and Bailey Libby in Level 10.

The Level 6 and Level 10 teams placed second, the Level 5 team third.

Amelia Archibald, Kyla Schilling, Maddie Shebek, Kaia Lokasari and Tierney Kline led Twisters to the Xcel Bronze team title at the Xcel State Championships in Waverly, also last month.

Archibald won four gold - vault, beam, floor and all around – while the other four were triple winners. Schilling won the bars, floor and all around, Shebek the vault, beam and all around, Lokasari the vault, beam and all around, and Kline the beam, floor and all around.

Other Twisters winners were Kaya Jones (vault and bars), Mariana Chrissotimos (bars), Gracey Feight (bars), Erica Marek (floor), Natalie Gilmore (floor), Aubrie Brown (floor) and Lila Cue (beam).

Other Bronze placewinners were Payton Ritze, Alyse McDermott, Gracie Raes, Delaney Shannon and Mia Dorman.

Jayme Brown won three events (vault, beam and all around) as the Twisters’ Xcel Platinum team finished fourth. Mackenzie Staub won the bars and Elli Frame, Taylor Hoskins, Reyata Ortiz, Eliza Dervo, Brianna Pierce, Sadie Reuter and Lauren Duncan were placewinners.

Leah Janutka and Oliva Brecht led the Xcel Silver team to a fifth-place finish, both winning three events. Janutka won the vault, bars and all around, Brecht the bars, beam and all around.

Reese Wendling (bars and floor) and Ally Lopata (bars, all around) were double winners, and Novalee Johnson (vault), Ellie Schrader (beam), Rylie Bartlett (bars) and Ella Whitlow (bars) also won gold.

Cora Harvey, Harper Einck, Harper Hempstead, Presley Senn, Camilla Jelinek, Kendal Cushman, Brooklyn Davis, Jenna Gibson, Sophia Sprague, Lizzie Griffin and Ava Salladay were Silver placewinners.

Sydney Luckey led the Xcel Gold team to a fifth-place finish, winning the vault and beam. Reagan Furler (vault) and Izzie McDonald (vault) also won gold, and Jenna Raid, Thea Eid, Jules Miskell, Anna Tiedeman, Sarah Beatty, Ava Gladden and Jersey Jergens were top-three finishers.

Xcel Diamond placewinners were Andelyn Cabalka, Maggie Goldberg and Natalie Osterberg.