Emeth’s New State Champions
Emeth Gymnastics is now home to six state champions! Taylor Fenselon and Emma Traggiai earned their state titles this past weekend in Niles and join Corbyn Anderson, Hailey Richard, Mackenzie Bennington, and Kayla Benjamin as Emeth’s state champs.
Ten-year-old Taylor is the Level 4 state vault champion. She started taking classes at Emeth when she was three years old. “Vault is my favorite event,” says Taylor. “I like it because you can use all of your power and put all of your energy into it.”
Taylor feels proud because all of her hard work has paid off. “Sometimes you think things aren’t going to work out, but they do,” reflects Taylor. “I remember that at first I didn’t think that I was ever going to even make it over the vault table! Nikki helped me so much with that.”
Taylor is thankful to her coaches for giving her pointers, encouraging her, and making her a better gymnast. “Taylor has always been a super powerful athlete which gives her a wow factor on vault!” says Coach Nikki. Taylor is also grateful for her parents for being there for her through thick and thin and always focusing on her character and the kind of person she is becoming.
Also bringing home a state champion title is Emma Traggiai. This eleven-year-old Level 5 gymnast is the state bars champion. She started taking classes at Emeth three years ago. Surprisingly, bars is Emma’s second favorite event. She actually prefers beam. “I like the way the beam feels under my feet,” says Emma. “I have a beam at my house and I love to practice on it!”
Emma was proud and excited when she learned that she was the state bars champion. “I was also counting my blessings,” remembers Emma. “I was thanking God for my talent.”
Emma is also credits her coaches, teammate and parents for her accomplishment. “My coaches push me to help me achieve the goals I set for myself. My teammate, Lorelei, always encourages me,” says Emma. “My parents encourage me and help me with my flexibility and conditioning.”
“Bars is a difficult event to work hard on because it hurts your hands. It is by far the most challenging event because it is nothing like the others,” says Coach Nikki. “Emma is one of the very few gymnasts that consistently works hard on bars every day.”
Congratulations to our champions, Taylor and Emma!
