Live Oak vs. Mount Carmel

THE LIVINGSTON PARISH NEWS C3
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2013
I
Two locals place first in gymnastics National Championships
DENHAM SPRINGS
— Lacey Rivette and
Savannah Cecchini,
representing the Acro
Gymnastics Team at
Leaps and Bounds
Sports Center, competed at National
Championships held
in Louisville, Ky.,
and won first place
against 12 other Level
8 Women’s Pairs.
It’s has been a winning year so far for
the Denham Springsbased Acro team,
coached by Kiril
Kirov and Sarah
Metrajean has accumulated awards including: Coach of the
Year (to Coach Kiril
Kirov), a Regional
Champion title and a
National Championship title.
Acro gymnastics
at Leaps and Bounds
Sports Center is a
partner sport in
which gymnast use
each other to perform skills instead of
standard equipment.
The routines include
tumbling and partner
skills choreographed
to music.
Cami Creel and Kinley Torres brought
home the gold medal
from Regional championships this year.
The competition was
hosted by WOGA
(World Olympic Gymnastics Academy) in
Frisco, Texas. This
is the exact academy
that Olympic Team
members and Medal-
ists, Carly Patterson
and Nastia Luikin
graduated from just a
few years ago. Creel
and Torres were a
level 4 women’s pair
in the age group of
11 and under. Level
four is the starting
level of competition
for acrobatic gymnastics. (There are
no qualifying scores
for local, state, or
regional competitions at Levels 4 and
5) Creel and Torres
scored a 24.17 out of
30, and the competition against them
scored 23.933.
Cecchini broke
her foot nine weeks
before Nationals and was not
able to compete in
State or Regional
Competitions. She
and her partner were
allowed through a
petition to compete
at Nationals because
they had scored well
above the qualifying
combined score of a
41.00 in their previous meets. When Cecchini got her boot off,
she and her partner
had only three full
weeks of practice before Nationals. They
scored a 27.1 out of
30 in their balance
routine, the only
27 scored in their
age and level group.
Then the next day
they scored a 26.95 in
their dynamic routine. Their combined
total score of 54.05
SUBMITTED
Coach Kiril Kirov of the
Leaps and Bounds Acro
team holds his 2013
Regional Coach of the Year
plaque.
was 1.2 higher than
the pair in second
place.
“We are all so
proud of them here
at Leaps and Bounds
and cant wait to see
what this year will
bring for these two
amazing athletes,”
said coach Sarah
Metrajean.
Kirov has been
involved with acro
gymnastics since
the age of 12. In 1974,
Kirov received the
Silver Medal from at
the first ever Acro
World Championships, which were
held in Moscow, Russia. The next year, he
received the Silver
Albany faces offense averaging 40 a game
From C1
Kickoff is set for 7
p.m. at Jesse Fletcher
Memorial Stadium.
Jewel Sumner is
not only sporting an
unblemished 5-0 record,
but are averaging 40
points a game.
The Cowboys equaled
that average last week,
as they lassoed St. Michael the Archangel to
the tune of a 40-13 win.
Sumner opened the
season with a 50-0 win
over Mt. Hermon, followed by a 19-8 victory
over Kentwood, a 53-0
thumbing of Varnado
and a 46-22 out-of-state
triumph over South
Pike (Miss.).
Albany slipped to 2-3
on the year following
a 55-34 road loss last
week to the Class 1A
program.
Varnado has been the
only similar opponent
so far this season for
Albany and Sumner,
with Albany also
defeating the Wildcats
by the score of 26-6 two
weeks ago.
Jewel Sumner, which
finished 7-5 a year ago,
along with advancing
to the regional-round of
the playoffs, are led by
returning senior starting quarterback Rhett
Travis (6-3, 215), along
with senior running
back Freddie Moreno
(5-8, 170).
Up front on offense,
the Cowboys have
some experience and
size with senior center
Trenton Warren (6-0,
305), followed by senior
guard Jason Elie (5-9,
255) and junior guard
Brad Harper (6-1, 300),
along with senior tackle
Desmond Singleton (6-5,
250) and junior tackle
Donovan Hartman (6-1,
225).
Sumner also has
some experience in its
receiving corps with
senior tight end Perry
Dominique (6-3, 230),
senior split end Bryan
James (5-9, 160), along
with junior split ends
Jalon Brock (5-6 165)
and Kalon Bergeron
(5-10, 170).
James caught a pair of
touchdown passes from
Travis in last week’s
win over the Warriors.
The Cowboys’ defense,
which returned eight
starters, are led at
tackles by senior Blake
Stewart (6-3, 230) and
junior Kenny Stewart
(6-0, 295), along with
senior end Matt Shaw
(6-4, 265).
The linebacking corps
includes seniors Derrick Chaisson (5-9, 180),
Ben Jones (5-9, 190), Demarcus Bickham (6-3,
220) and Steve Holland
(6-0, 200), along with
junior Percy Briggs (60, 185).
The Cowboys’ secondary includes seniors
Jerome Cutrer (6-1, 175)
and Jonathan Jackson
(6-2, 165), along with
sophomore Kijuan Lee
(6-0, 180), who started
last fall as a freshman.
In Albany’s loss to
CLA last week, running
backs Josh McClain
and Bryce Wells each
broke the 100-yard
barrier rushing with
a 105 and 109 yards
respectively, while
quarterback Skyler
Lehmann threw for 142
yards, with the bulk of
that yardage coming on
TD passes to Alex Vallo
(60 yards) and Tanner
House (65 yards).
McClain scored the
game’s first touchdown
on a 25-yard run to
give the Hornets its
only lead of the night,
although the game was
tied at 14-apiece after
the first quarter.
Christian Life outscored Albany 21-6 in
the second period to
take a 35-20 lead into
halftime. After Vallo’s
TD reception, McClain
scored his second
touchdown of the night
on a 10-yard run.
CLA then out-scored
the Hornets 13-6 in the
third to take a comfortable 48-26 advantage
into the fourth.
Wells scored the
Hornets’ lone touchdown in the third on a
4-yard run, while House
scored Albany’s final
points on his 65-yard
pass play.
SUBMITTED
Lacey Rivette and Savannah Cecchini, representing the Acro Gymnastics Team at Leaps
and Bounds Sports Center in Denham Springs, won the national gold medal in Level 8
Women’s Pairs against 12 other elite teams.
Medal again from
second Acro World
Championship in Saarbruken, Germany.
Kirov graduated with
a Masters Degree in
Physical Education
and Gymnastics and
became an acro coach
in 1978. Among the
many athletes he
has trained over the
course of his career,
3 Men’s Pairs he
coached in Bulgaria
took many medals
from World Championships throughout
the years he was
there. Approximately
25 championships
and medals have been
won. He moved to
the U.S. in 2008 from
Silven, Bulgaria to
coach at Leaps and
Bounds Sports Center. Since being at
Leaps and Bounds,
Kirov has coached
athletes to national
championships 3 out
of 5 years and has
come home to Leaps
and Bounds with
Gold Medals 2 out of
those 3 years. This
year, Kirov added
‘Coach of the Year’ to
his awards.
October 12 – Free Acro
Clinic from 1-2 p.m.
The Acro program
is still looking for
team members to join
this year. The program covers all ability levels, starting
with a cartwheel and
moving up. Anyone
interested is welcomed to come to a
free clinic Oct. 12
from 1-2 p.m. to see
what acro is all about
and work with the
athletes and coaches.