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BIG day for four gymnasts
Heading to nationals from the Balance Institute of Gymnastics are (from left) Melissa Zurawski, Kellie Flavin, Tiffany Elliott and Dana LoCascio.
Updated: June 4, 2012 11:30AM
Balance Institute of Gymnastics had three national qualifiers for the Junior Olympic National Championship, following the Level 9 and 10 Regional Competition in Indianapolis, Ind.
Tiffany Elliott, of Clarendon Hills, Kellie Flavin, of Downers Grove and Melissa Zurawski, of Darien all qualified for the national meet. Dana LoCascio, of Lemont, is a first alternate.
Elliott, Flavin and LoCascio are USAG Level 9s and Zurawski is a second-year Level 10; they have been competing at BIG since 2006.
Elliott, Flavin and LoCascio will be traveling to Landover, Md. for the Eastern National Championships, starting May Friday. For Level 10 Nationals, gymnasts have to place in the top seven of their age division at Regionals. Zurawski will be traveling to Hampton, Va. on May 9 to start the long weekend of preparations and competition. All of the girls will be competing for the Region 5 Team.
This will be the first visit to Nationals for Elliott, who placed sixth all-around with a 36.225. This score qualified her to live out her dream in Landover.
This is also the first time Flavin will be competing with her peers from around the nation. She placed fourth all-around at the regional competition with a 36.075.
Zurawski knows what it is like to make it to such a prestigious competition. This will be her third year in a row competing at nationals. She placed third all-around at regionals with a 37.825, beating some of the best girls in the region.
