Xtreme Athletics Troy gymnasts qualify for regionals
Published 2:27 pm Monday, April 10, 2023
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A number of Xtreme Athletics Troy’s gymnasts have qualified for regional meets, as well as earned state championships.
This was the first year that Xtreme Athletics Gymnastics featured Xcel teams with two gymnasts in Xcel Bronze earning state championships. Kensley Wallace earned a state title in the beam, while Kinsley Cox won state titles in both bars and beams.
![](https://www.troymessenger.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/24/2023/04/Gymnastics-2.jpg?w=300)
A number of Xtreme Athletics gymnasts won state championships. Picutred, from left, are Flowers, Scott, Salmon, Kinsley Cox and Kensley Wallace.
Additionally, Level 7 competitors Eleanor Salmon, Chloe Scott and Paityn Flowers won state titles, as well. Salmon won a state title in the beam, while Flowers won a state crown in the vault. Scott won a state championship in the beam and won All-Around State Champion.
Also, Reese Connor qualified for regionals in Xcel Silver, while Salmon, Scott and Flowers qualified for Level 7 Regionals and Skylar Wright qualified for Level 9 Regionals.
“I’m really proud of how they did this year, especially with us starting our Xcel program and seeing how well those girls were able to advance through without ever competing before,” Xtreme Athletics Gymnastics Coach Paul Diaz said. “(Wright) did really well coming off an injury last year, too. She did really good at state and qualified for regionals. I’m proud of them all. A couple of them on our Level 7 that hadn’t ever reached regionals were able to reach it this year, too.”
The Alabama High School Athletic Association (AHSAA) hasn’t sponsored gymnastics as a high school sport since 1998, so clubs like Xtreme Athletics are the only opportunities that young gymnasts in the state have to potentially earn scholarships to go on to compete at the college level.
“It’s really big for them to go and be able to compete at these meets,” Diaz said. “The higher in levels you go, obviously the more intense it is with your training and skills and the ones that stick it out and want to go down that path, it’s important for them to make the changes necessary to get to those levels.
“Putting them on these stages – either regionals or nationals – gives them more experience to continue to improve and the better it is for them to be able to keep moving through the sport.”
Salmon, Scott and Flowers will compete in Level 7 Regionals in Greensboro, NC at the end of the month, while Wright will compete in Level 9 Regionals in Palmetto, Fla., on April 14. Conner will compete at Xcel Regionals in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on May 5.