- Dec 20, 2023 Updated 10 hrs ago
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The Bahamas Star Gymnastics Xcel Bronze squad of Jayda Smith, Rielle Whylly, Keianna King, Ambrielle Braynen, Alexa Demeritte and Brianna Dorceus placed second in the team standings of the Atlantis Crown Gymnastics Invitational, that was held at the Atlantis resort on Paradise Island over the weekend. Shown from left are Smith, Whylly, King, Braynen, Demeritte and Dorceus.
The Atlantis Crown Gymnastics Invitational was once again hosted at the Atlantis Resort on Paradise Island, drawing over 1,000 athletes representing several teams from the United States and The Bahamas.
The young athletes competed for a 10.0 perfect score in artistic gymnastics and trampoline and tumbling, emerging as individual medalists and team finalists in the Xcel Bronze and Xcel Silver divisions. The Bahamas was represented by a small squad of 10 athletes from Bahamas Star Gymnastics (BSG).
On Friday afternoon, the Xcel Bronze team was led by lead scorer Keianna King with her debut performance with a 38.025 All Around. Her squad mates of Brianna Dorceus, Ambrielle Braynen, Alexa Demeritte and Jayda Smith contributed to the 2nd Place Team final ranking among six teams. Only three teams were awarded a podium position.
King’s score of 38.025 was the highest for club and country and ranked 12th highest of more than 900 athletes in the event.
On Sunday morning, the Xcel Silver team delivered exceptional performances and earned fourth place in the team standings with only four of nine teams awarded. This Xcel Silver squad’s leading scorer was Amelia Francis who teamed up with squad mates Ja’Layah Absolu, Te’Karria Cartwright and Nylah Symonette. This team had to push hard and dig deep as the competition was stiff. The third and fourth place teams were separated by a tenth of a point.
Celebrated in the awards ceremony with the ringing sound of cowbells, the clinking sound of multiple medals mixed harmoniously throughout the weekend.
“Our athletes worked hard, our coaches worked hard, our parents supported with sacrifices and this is the paradigm which works for our club,” remarked an excited program director Nicola Thompson.
“All of our competitors medaled and in some cases earned first place in individual apparatus and in the all around standings. It was most impressive to observe how well each of our athletes remained focused, gave their best efforts and even if they underperformed their personal best, they remained sportmanslike throughout the event,” said squad coach Makiya Cargill.https://f9ab1d770f1af2ba1c2cd8441fd3e692.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-40/html/container.html
“Our focus on training all of our athletes, whether competitive or recreational, is to encourage and draw out each gymnast’s potential and guide them on optimizing their strengths,” noted technical coach Tenille Desulme.
Bahamas Star Gymnastics launched in 2010 and now trains at its facility in the Christian Life Centre on JFK Drive. The club’s success in the sport has been tracked, documented and analyzed since its inception. Club athletes perform well at meets hosted here in The Bahamas and abroad.