Nine Reign Elite gymnasts qualify for AAU Junior Olympic Games

CLEVELAND, Ga. — Nine gymnasts from Reign Elite’s Cleveland and Clarkesville locations have qualified for the AAU Junior Olympic Games following strong performances at the AAU National Championships in Knoxville, Tenn., according to coach Neva Daniels in an interview with Now Georgia.

Daniels said 29 gymnasts from the program competed at the national event June 18–21, with nine earning AAU National Team status, which qualifies athletes for the Junior Olympic Games in Des Moines, Iowa, Aug. 3–7.

“We had 29 girls go to nationals,” Daniels said in an interview with Now Georgia. “We had nine make the national team that qualifies them to compete at the Junior Olympics. Each of those girls competed against about 100 other gymnasts from all over the United States.”

Highly competitive process

Daniels said the qualification process is highly competitive, with only the top 10 scores advancing in each event from fields of roughly 100 athletes.

“They take the top 10 out of about 100 girls,” she said. “There are about 100 girls competing at one time. They take the top 10 scores from each event — vault, bars, beam and floor.”

Of the nine qualifiers, five are from the Cleveland location and four are from the Clarkesville facility, which opened less than a year ago as part of the program’s expansion in Habersham County.

The Cleveland group was led by national all-around champions Sadie Norris in the child silver division and Kylie Almond in the senior silver division. Norris also won national titles on bars, beam and floor, while Almond captured the bars championship. Kinley Blinn won the senior silver beam title and finished fourth in the all-around. Rileigh Bearden was the bronze junior vault runner-up, and Skylar Marquart placed fourth on floor in the gold junior division.

Reign Elite’s Clarkesville gym also had several standout performances.

Ellie Phillips won the silver floor title and finished third in the all-around. Brooke Norton and Arcelia Zavala each placed third in the silver all-around for their age divisions. Braleigh Vanderstelt finished third in the platinum all-around and earned runner-up finishes on beam and floor.

‘Nothing short of amazing’

Daniels said several additional athletes posted strong scores but narrowly missed the cutoff for national team selection.

“They were right there, they just didn’t make it,” she said. “They just literally take the top 10, and whoever’s the top 10, that’s who goes.”

She said the results reflect the dedication of the athletes and the time spent training in the gym.

“The amount of training hours and time these girls put into the gym is phenomenal,” Daniels said. “They’ve put their heart and soul into this sport, and when you do that, it’s rewarded.”

In 2024, Reign Elite had one gymnast qualify for the Junior Olympics in Greenville, South Carolina. The following year, in Houston, Texas, that number grew to two qualifiers.

Now, with nine gymnasts headed to the Junior Olympics at least one parent calls it “nothing short of amazing.”

“That kind of success doesn’t happen by accident,” Jennifer Norris said. “It’s the result of countless hours of hard work, dedicated athletes, families who support them, and coaches who continually invest in every gymnast who walks through our doors.”

Olympics a significant milestone

Daniels said the accomplishment represents a significant milestone for the program, especially for the Clarkesville location in its first year of operation.

“All the girls competed so beautifully,” she said. “It was quite a weekend. There were some other girls that had some super, super high scores, but the cutoff, they just didn’t meet the 10 cutoff. They were right there.”

The gym will be closed July 4–12 for a scheduled break ahead of the Junior Olympic Games. Now Georgia plans to conduct interviews with each of the nine qualifying athletes once training resumes before the competition.

The AAU Junior Olympic Games will be held Aug. 3–7 in Des Moines.