Riverside Brookfield age group girls gymnast Harper Coffelt of North Riverside kept her cool under the pressure of the Amateur Athletic Union Nationals, June 18-21, in Knoxville, Tennessee. Coffelt was competing on floor exercise when noise mistakenly came over the speakers and affected hearing the music accompanying her routine.
She kept going and scored an 8.4.
“It was strange because that’s never happened to me before,” Coffelt said. “It wasn’t that scary. I just continued doing my routine because I knew what to do.”
Coffelt was among six gymnasts in the RB age group gymnastics program that qualified for the AAU Junior Olympics, Aug. 4-7, in Des Moines, Iowa based on their scores at nationals. Alex Jacobucci of Brookfield earned All-America honors for having the highest all-around score at her competition level (36.325 at Level 5 Junior B). Also advancing were Clara Giardini and Matilda Yanz, both of Riverside, and Evelina Black of LaGrange Park in Level 5 Junior B, Coffelt at Level 5 Junior A, and Bea Coyle of Brookfield in Xcel Gold Junior C.
The program’s coaches are Tammy Cavaliere and assistant Karyn Domzalski, who accompanied the 17 RB youth gymnasts to Tennessee.
Giardini, Jacobucci, Coffelt and Coyle plan to compete at JOs. Yanz has another commitment and Black is injured.
“I can’t wait to see what it’s like because this is the first time I qualified,” Jacobucci said. “I’m also excited that I have the opportunity to go with teammates.”
While there were five Level 5 qualifiers for nationals, Coyle was the program’s only competitor in Excel.
“Just a little different, but it wasn’t too hard,” Coyle said. “It means a lot to me because I’ve been working really hard to get to the Junior Olympics.”
In 2024, Giardini and Yanz qualified for the AAU Junior Olympics for Level 1-7 gymnastics. Giardini finished third on the uneven parallel bars.
“It feels a little different (this year) because I know what to expect and I’m at a different (competition) level,” Giardini said. “I don’t think I will be as nervous this time.”
“It feels similar. I was really happy and excited for both,” Yanz said. “This year, I thought it was a lot more for me to perform (harder) skills than the skills a few years ago.”
Jacobucci excelled in her division by winning vault with an impressive 9.7 and floor exercise (8.85) and taking second on uneven bars (9.375) and balance beam (8.4).
“I was surprised to receive the All-America award of the level. I was filled with excitement and joy,” Jacobucci said. “(This season) I progressed in my routines by accomplishing new skills and fixing my form.”
Giardini won uneven bars in the same competitive division with a Level 5 personal-best 9.55 and beam (9.0) and was second in all-around (35.25) and floor (8.225).
“I was most excited about my bars. It’s the event I like the most and I think I scored well,” Giardini said.
In their competition group, Yanz won all-around (35.45), vault (9.4), uneven bars (8.675) and floor (8.65) and was second on beam (8.725) and Coffelt was second in all-around (33.975), floor (8.4) and uneven bars (8.3).
Yanz set the tone for her meet on the first event, beam.
“I just got a new skill (round-off) and I was proud of myself being able to perform it at nationals,” Yanz said. “I think it definitely helped, knowing it got most of the pressure off.”
Coffelt and Jacobucci said they were both motivated by just missing advancing to JOs in 2024.
“I feel like my best routine was on floor. Especially when (teammates) cheer for me, it brings me confidence,” Coffelt said.
Coyle won uneven bars (9.65) and was fourth on floor (9.45). Like many of her teammates, she’s excited about the opportunity to perform even better at JOs.
“(Beam) wasn’t my best but I was proud of myself because I landed a skill (cartwheel) I’ve never landed before,” Coyle said. “I’m just really excited to make my events better and fix what I can fix.”
Other RB age group national qualifiers were Teeghan Alaniz, Cadence Henry-McGreal, Addison Jordan and Irene Kaval (Level 6), Madison Abbate-O’Malley, Hazel Giardini, Abby Gowgiel and Bianca Malagutti (Level 4), Ava Lauer (Level 3) and Mila Bender, Charlotte Brooks and Zoey Wainwright (Level 2).
Alaniz, Giardini, Malagutti, Lauer and Brooks and live in Riverside, Kaval, Gowgiel and Wainwright live in Brookfield, Henry-McGreal in North Riverside, Jordan and Abbate-O’Malley, in LaGrange Park and Bender in Indian Head Park.