Gymnasts from Ultimate Gymnastics win state, regional medals

Gymnasts from Ultimate Gymnastics in Delmont competed at state meets and state championships at various levels last month.

Six members of the school earned state medals.

Renee Ruggeri, owner of Ultimate Gymnastics, has been coaching the sport for more than 40 years and helped guide the group to success.

Kiski Area rising senior Emma King, 17, took first place in the floor events (9.500) in the senior division at the Xcel Platinum level.

She has only been with Ultimate Gymnastics for a couple of years but already has made an impact.

“She’s a good role model with just being in the gym, and then they see her practice and excel,” Ruggeri said. “They want to be like her, so she’s a really responsible and mature young lady. It’s great to have her as an addition to the team, and we look forward to her doing some good things as a senior, too.”

Kiski’s Ellie Arnold, 12, also competed in the Xcel Platinum level, but in the junior division. Arnold finished first in the floor event (9.750) and fourth in the all-around events (37.900).

Ruggeri said Arnold started the year with some motion fear of going backward, but Arnold pushed through and her effort helped her earn state and regional awards.

“She managed to fight herself through that, and it’s really amazing what she’s done with this season. She’s become a leader and never changed her attitude or her demeanor,” Ruggeri said. “Even with the little kids at a young age to succeed in what she did this weekend. She’s really fun to watch. She’s a dynamic gymnast, and it’s just good to see her back to where she was and excelling.”

Burrell’s Lily Liotta also competed in the Xcel Platinum level with Arnold and placed second on the beam (9.650).

For the Level 8 gymnasts, Burrell’s Isabella Distilo, 12, placed first in the floor event (9.300).

Ruggeri said although Distilo may be young, she is a great role model.

“She’s really a leader in the gym. She does coach some little preschool kids, and they really looked up to her,” Ruggeri said. “She’s a great role model, even at a young age. She has a positive attitude and cheers on the other girls as well. She’s a good all-around kid to have in the gym.”

Ultimate Gymnastics had three gymnasts participate in the Level 3 events. Norwin’s Nina Kelly, 8, Kiski’s Averiee Arnold, 7, and Franklin Regional’s Hayden Hart, 8, went out for state championships.

Kelly competed in the middle-aged division and placed first on the beam (9.300). Kelly also took home third place in the all-around events (37.025).

“She’s very young, but she competes like she’s been doing it all forever even though she’s really only been in competitions like that for two years,” Ruggeri said.

Averiee Arnold finished first in the vault (9.675) and Hart finished first on the beam (9.200). Arnold also was second in the all-around events (37.250), and Hart was third (36.525).

Averiee Arnold, Ellie’s sister, has been competing for less than two years but is already making an impact on the gymnastics scene. Ruggeri said she looks like a Barbie Doll when she competes, and she was impressed with her performance at such a young age.

“She’s a great performer. She had a really great day that day,” the coach said. “She was also almost first in the all-around but managed to win vault, which was almost perfect. She does well. She’s a level 3 and has really only been doing competitions for like a year and a half.”

Ruggeri is impressed with Hart’s success at a young age.

“She did really well on the beam,” Ruggeri said. “She had a great performance that day at states.”

Ultimate Gymnastics also had winners in the regional events in Scranton. Xcel Platinum level gymnasts qualify for regionals, and Ellie Arnold took first in all-around events and placed second in two other events.

Distilo also competed at regionals, alongside Plum’s Sarah Kvortek and Mt. Pleasant’s Olivia Kovach. All three took home regional medals.

Ruggeri expects all of the girls to continue to move up in levels. She looks to get the kids involved with in-house competitions and hopes the team can bring along more friends to Ultimate Gymnastics. She is grateful for her coaches and her gymnasts and looks forward to seeing Ultimate Gymnastics continue to grow.

“We’ve been really lucky here,” Ruggeri said. “We have some great coaches with a great work ethic, and it’s good to see them improve and stay with it and be able to perform even better over time.”