Gymnastics squad hosts 4-day event

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One day at camp, the youngsters got to hit the floor, beam, vault and bars with superheroes.

Another, everyone dressed in neon colors.

This past week at Gymnastics Lane, 10 boys and girls attended a camp headed by members of the Seymour High School gymnastics team.

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Each day, Monday through Thursday, the camp leaders dressed in theme while helping the kids sharpen their skills.

Incoming Seymour sophomore Avery DeHart said that she liked helping the campers with her teammates.

“I’ve done gymnastics camps in the past, but I like the way we’ve been doing it better,” DeHart said. “I fell like we interact more with the kids. We do more things that help them learn about gymnastics rather than doing the skills for them.”

Seymour’s gymnastics coach Angie Mellencamp oversees the camp.

While the high school opened up the camp last year, this year the students did more of the teaching.

“Before this, Gymnastics Lane always just had its own summer camp,” Mellencamp said. “Last year, (Seymour assistant athletics director) Dave Urbanski kind of pushed to have the high schoolers put on a camp. This year, the high schoolers have really taken the wheel. They run the events, made up the floor and beam routine and have done a great job.”

The campers started their days with a long warm up, which included a short run, before doing pad drills where they learned basic floor skills.

“We usually play one game and then split up into different groups to work on different events,” Mellencamp said. “Every day they hit vault, bars, beam and floor — we make sure to hit all four events every day.”

Mellencamp said that the level of experience ranged at the camp, from first-timers to experienced gymnasts.

For Miley Fox, six-year-old, it was the first time at camp.

“I’ve learned how to do cartwheels and different stuff,” Fox said.

“My favorite part is floor. I also like walking on the beam.”

Mellencamp said the campers enjoyed playing with the big kids.

“I would like to shine some more light on the high school team,” she said. “It shows the youth there is the ability to compete at the high school level. Gymnastics is not one of the most well-known sports in the community. People really start thinking about it when the Olympics start.

“It’s a good experience for the high schoolers to interact with the youth.”

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