Local 11-year-old vaults and balances her way to regional gymnastic competition

Kennetts Gymnastics in Goshen currently only has five girls on the Gold Xcel team level. It was a tough weekend for the team at Canisius College Gymnasium in Buffalo, NY, a long way from home and familiar faces at the New York State Championship for Gold and Silver Xcel Gymnastics.

The competition took place April 29-May 1 at Koessler Athletic Center in Buffalo,NY. The girls were separated by age level and whether Gold or Silver level. Kennetts Gymnastics of Goshen had five Gold girl athletes competing and 10 Silver girl athletes.

They competed at separate times because of their different ages, so team support wasn’t there. All of them pushed themselves to the next level, showing their skills and determination. Kamryan Murtaugh was one of them. She is 11 years old and a first year Gold level Xcel athlete. She pushed herself to the limit and ended up with a perfect score 10/10 on beam when it mattered the most, the last event of the competition, so the pressure was on.

She brought home the first place medal in vault, first in bars, first on floor, first on balance beam, and took first overall. She not only qualified for Regionals but also took the top spot on the Super Team, among 7 girls out of 369 from NY State. She also made the America’s Top 100 gymnasts beam scores three times this season.

Kamryan was the only Gold girl who qualified for Regionals, which will be at Shrewsbury High School in Shrewsbury, MA, May 21-22. All qualified athletes from levels Silver, Gold, Platinum and Diamond will be there from USA Gymnastics Region 6.

This is her second time qualifying for Regionals. Last year she was a level Silver Xcel competitor and came in second place over all. She is a fifth grader at Minisink Valley and has been training with Coach John Smales at Kennetts Gymnastics for seven years.