GILROY — Gymnasts from Gilroy and Hollister helped celebrate the lives and raise awareness of female cancer survivors at the annual Pink Meet Invitational at Bay Aerials in Fremont.
The USA Sport Level 3 team won the team competition with a score of 108.20, adding a gold medal to their pink outfits. They beat out NorCal Elite, who came in second with 105.975 points, and Central California Gymnastics Association came in third with 101.90 points.
“This is our youngest team, with some players as young as 7 years old and only one veteran,” USA Sports head coach Jennifer Yip said, “They've done a fantastic job considering they're so young. I think they'll be a team to be reckoned with in the future.”
Gilroy's Abigail Trevino and Katrina Cantu excelled in their individual competitions, with Cantu taking first place on the uneven bars with a score of 9.25 and on balance with a score of 9.0, and she also took second place in the all-around with a score of 35.35.
Trevino took first place on the balance beam with a score of 9.45, and placed second in the individual all-around and uneven bars with scores of 35.825 and 8.95, respectively.
Gilroy's teammate, Lee Ann Panfil, won the floor exercise with a score of 9.0 and took third place on the uneven bars with a score of 8.90. All three have qualified for the state meet in November.
Two USA Sport Level 5 Gilroy gymnasts also made it onto the podium. Natasha Bui and Isabella Sagau each won silver in the individual all-around in their own divisions. Bui also won the floor exercise with a score of 9.125 and took second on the balance beam with a score of 8.80. Sagau won the vault with a score of 8.95 and took third on the balance beam and balance exercise with scores of 8.30 and 8.975, respectively.
“The season has just begun,” said Yip, “and the players have only just started warming up. We are looking forward to great results this year.”
A portion of the proceeds from the tournament was donated to Unite for HER, a nonprofit organization that provides support, knowledge and education to women diagnosed with breast cancer about treatments. Funds raised at the invitational tournament on September 18 and 19 will be donated to the Pink Unity Grant Program, which was established to ease the financial and emotional burden on USA Gymnastics and NCAA athletes, coaches, judges and their families affected by breast cancer.
