Mahwah Gymnast Wins All-Around State Title, Earns Regional Berth

MAHWAH, NJ — A Mahwah gymnast vying for a spot at the 2024 Paris Olympics earned first place all-around in her age group at the highest pre-elite level in the New Jersey State Championship.

Olivia Kelly, 16, took first all-around in the Junior Division Level 10 at the March 24 state meet, and her Boonton gymnastics center also won the state title at the same level for the 12th consecutive year.

Kelly showed off her abilities against 31 other athletes up to age 16 at the most difficult level of competitive club gymnastics under the USA Gymnastics Women's Development Program. Only elite is higher.

She earned an all-around score of 38.3 to receive a bid to regionals, and scored above 9 in each of the four events: uneven bars, balance beam, floor exercise and vault — placing first on the bars and the vault. Her training center, the North Stars Gymnastics Academy, also clinched the Level 10 New Jersey State Team award at the annual event held this year in Manasquan.

Up next, Kelly will represent her gym and the state — along with 12 other North Stars gymnasts — at the Region 7 Gymnastics Level 10 meet from April 13-16 in Virginia, and compete against the top-qualifying gymnasts from six states: New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia.

North Stars at the state meet defeated 17 Level 10 teams from throughout the Garden State, and has won every Level 10 state title since 2012. The top three individual score-getters from each division (junior and senior) and from each of the four events, are calculated to determine the Level 10 team award.

If Kelly is one of seven all-around winners in her age group at the Level 10 regional championship next month, she will compete as part the Region 7 Team against seven other regions at the Level 10 Nationals in Oklahoma.

Kelly, who is eyeing a spot in the 2024 Olympics, is continuing along the qualifying pathway to the international competition, and represents Barbados — where she holds dual citizenship — on the island's women's national gymnastics team. She is also a University of Missouri women's gymnastics team commit.

The Mahwah resident is coached by North Stars part-owner and former U.S. National Team member Ashley Umberger.

"We are beyond proud of our athletes," Umberger said of her title-winning team. "They gave it their all and their hard work showed. They put on quite a show and held their own against stiff competition from throughout the state."