Davidsonville Gymnast Shines in National Meet

Local gymnast and Davidsonville resident Annie Gruner was one of several girls to represent Maryland in the 22nd annual National Judges Cup Championships. 

While earning a gold medal with a stellar floor exercise, the 9-year-old and her team of Win-Win gymnasts finished fourth in the national meet, the highest the state has ever placed.

Below is a submission by a local parent recapping the team's performance. 

The following was submitted by Constance Barber, a parent of a Win-Win gymnast.

On the first Thursday in 2012, while most area elementary and middle school girls were on their way to school, 14 girls, their coaches and parents gathered at BWI Airport to represent Maryland in the 22nd annual National Judges Cup Championships, held in a different city every year.

The prestigious gymnastics meet was held this year at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis, IN. The girls range in age from 9 to 13, live anywhere from Northern Virginia to the Eastern Shore, and are educated in public, private or home-school settings. Apart from those differences, deep down, they could be the same child. All are exceedingly smart, athletic and quite driven. They are the Level 7 gymnasts at  in Odenton. These youngsters collectively have 79 years of gymnastics experience between them. 

Win-Win Gymnastics won the opportunity to represent the state at the Maryland Judges competition and spent the next two months training and competing against each other for one of six spots on Team Maryland.  

While other kids were enjoying holiday breaks, these girls were still getting up early. They had two days off for Thanksgiving, two off for Christmas and two off for New Year's. But these girls would rather be at the gym than anywhere else, anyway.

And since they worked hard, the parents and coaches definitely made sure they enjoyed the trip. They did handstands at 30,000 feet on the plane, rode a stretch Hummer limo to and from their practice held at Olympian Jaycee Phelps' gym. And they celebrated.

They absolutely had reasons to celebrate. Friday afternoon’s competition was for gym teams from around the country and Win-Win came to compete. The team captured three bronze medals on the balance beam (Makaela Edmonds, Hannah Munnelly and Michaela Johnson), one bronze on floor exercise (Kaelani Price) and one for an all-around (Makaela Edmonds). One silver medal was awarded for vault (Bonnie Barber), one for uneven bars (Marisa Gatson), one for balance beam (Kaylie Gonzalez), three on floor exercise (Gabrielle Aguilar, Bonnie Barber, Kaylie Gonzalez), and one for an all-around (Michaela Johnson).

Gold medals were the prize of the day with the girls winning a total of eight individual titles, including two on bars (Gabrielle Aguilar and Bonnie Barber), two on beam (Gabrielle Aguilar, Bonnie Barber), two on the floor exercise (Anne Gruner, Michaela Johnson) and two for the all-around (Gabrielle Aguilar, Bonnie Barber).

Dinner for about 50 at the TGIF restaurant in the JW Marriot Hotel was a loud, hot, joyous affair, culminating with the announcement of the six who would compete for Team Maryland the next evening.

Team Maryland, comprised of gymnasts from a very young gym, were up against some gymnastics powerhouses. California, Pennsylvania and Texas are historically strong states and some send two teams to this championship meet. About half of the United States sent a team to compete. Most states send all-star teams, their state’s best, chosen from any number of gyms. USAG Maryland chooses to send the gym that wins the Judges Invite at the start of the season. Win-Win owner Chan Wang and head coach Mary Thompson had to make the difficult decision out of the 16 gymnasts that make up Win-Win’s Level 7.

Anne Gruner, Hannah Munnelly, Marisa Gatson, Michaela Johnson, Gabrielle Aguilar (silver bars, gold beam and silver all-around) and Bonnie Barber (bronze vault, silver bars, silver all-around) were the six chosen to wear the red leotards of Maryland.     

With the rest of their team cheering them on, Team Maryland finished the meet in fourth place, with a score of 186.500, ahead of 25 other teams. The girls left Indy with a total of 69 medals and six trophies. It is the highest any Maryland team has ever placed. Watch out Texas, Pennsylvania and California. There’s always next year, and Win-Win has a pretty darn good Level 6!

In addition to Win-Win Gymnastics that is located at 8266 Lokus Rd., Chan Wang and her business partner and husband, Jian Zhou, will be opening a Win-Win Training Facility on Midway Road, also in Odenton.