Area gym hosts regional championships

VERNON — The multipurpose area at Minerals Hotel was packed this past weekend.
Not with ballroom dancers or people there for a convention but with gymnasts from as far away as Virginia and Maryland. This was the inaugural XCEL Regional Invitational Meet, and it had been in the works since the inception of the XCEL program five years ago.
Regional Chairwoman, Jane Caruso, of Pennsylvania, smiled as she saw this event finally come to fruition.
“It's been years in the making and we're so thankful to Giant Gymnastics for stepping up and offering to host it,” she said. Giant, which has gyms in Sparta and Hackettstown, offered to host and did what Caruso deemed “an amazing job.” She added, “You have no idea how the owners Jen and John and all of the coaches at Giant came together to make this happen. Their attention to detail was fantastic.”
Giant coach Margaret Witt, said, “It's the largest events we've every hosted to date. It was hard work to coordinate everything but fortunately we had some practice as we hosted States this year. It was so great to see gymnasts from all over the region coming together.”
Giant was in charge of everything related to the staging and execution of the meet.
The gymnasts hailed from Pennsylvania, Virginia, Maryland and New Jersey. Though Delaware and West Virginia are in the region they did not send athletes this year. XCEL is an alternative USA Gymnastics competitive program offering individual flexibility to coaches and gymnasts. The goal of XCEL is to provide gymnasts of varying abilities and commitment levels the opportunity for a rewarding gymnastics experience.
Giant had a number of athletes from all over Sussex County competing in the Regionals. Members of their Bronze and Silver XCEL teams qualified through exhibition, but for the Platinum gymnasts, it was a matter of qualification which wasn't easy. Emily Rodrigez of Stillwater was a Platinum qualifier, however she couldn't attend due to her brother's graduation. Audry Biss of Sparta qualified in the vault and beam, and Coach Witt's daughter, Morgyn Witt of Newton, qualified in beam, floor and vault.
“Platinum gymnasts put in a minimum of nine hours per week and all three of these girls who qualified are straight A students,” Coach Witt said. "A true testament to how dedicated her daughter, 14-year-old Morgyn is to her studies and gymnastics, while other divisions competed, she did homework in the lobby and the night before had competed in her school's Academic Bowl.
“This is my first year on the Bronze XCEL Team and I loved being at Regionals,” said Lily Sauchelli of Newton. The third-grader started at Giant's Hackettstown gym in pre-school and now goes to the Sparta gym. “I love it and this year I got a 9.15 in vault at a meet and at Regionals got a 9.175 on beam. I really wanted to get a nine and I did it.”
Riley Deer came all the way from Gibsonia, Pennsylvania to Regionals with her team, Trinity Gymnastics. The 10-year-old competes on their XCEL Gold Team and said, “I enjoyed coming to New Jersey and Regionals is a great way for us to see how other kids train and compete.”
Giant Gymnastics' coach, Anthony Russo, said of the athletes at Regionals, “They work really hard for this and it's a great thing for them to all come together.”
Sparta's Melissa TowneyAnd then there is Melissa Towey, of Sparta. She's 40 years old and was out there competing with the middle and high school kids. Why? Because she had to finish something she quit years ago and set an example for her daughter, mini gymnast, Lucy.
“I left gymnastics when I was 13 and focused on dance instead,” Towey said. “I had a bad fall on beam, and had I had the coaches then that I have today, I would have gotten back on the beam and continued. Instead, I allowed myself to be afraid and quit.” About two years ago, Towey started going to adult gymnastics classes at Giant.
“I would shake looking at the beam. I swore I would never go on it again,” she said. “It took a lot of time, positive thinking, and one on one time with Coach Margaret, but now it doesn’t bother me anymore — I can stick a cartwheel. And at Regionals this past weekend, I met my season goal – which was to score a nine or better on beam.”
“Knowing my daughter, Lucy, was loving her gymnastics classes and would likely start competing soon, the window of opportunity was closing for me to be able to finish something I started way earlier in life," Towey said. "So, the coaching staff and I discussed competing, and as a 40th birthday present to myself, I signed on to be a Garden Gator this year so I could finally close this chapter. Honestly, I want to be a good role model for my daughter. Someday I’ll be able to tell her why I competed this year and she’ll truly understand why I needed to finish this part of my life. Right now she doesn’t understand; she just thinks I’m one of the kids.”
Of the Regional Meet, Towey said,
“It was definitely an honor to be there and now that it's over I can say I met all of my personal goals for this season despite injuries," Towey said of the regional meet. "I can’t say enough positive things about how our team was so welcoming and accepting of my being there all season. Even the other gymnasts, coaches and judges frequently talked to me about my experience and cheer me on. It’s definitely kept me going, even during those moments when I would let the negative voice take over and wonder what the audience was thinking.”
Of her coaches at Giant, Towey said, “Every single one knows what to say and when you need to hear it. They know when you need tough love, and they respect when you need a good cry. I’m going to miss practicing regularly with the team, but I’ll still be around the gym coaching recreational classes and working out when I have the chance, so I look forward to seeing them here and there, and of course at meets.”
Moving ForwardAs to the future of the regional meet, Caruso said it's here to stay. “We'd like to have gyms like Giant offer to host in the coming years in different states so the event can move around. This year we had judges from all states involved which was really great. It was fantastic to see it come together here in New Jersey as it did.”