KAPAA — A group of girls from Garden Island Gymnastics took part in Aloha Gymfest on Oahu on Jan. 12-13.
“Aloha Gymfest is an annual competition that happens every January. This is the 42nd annual one,” said Garden Island Gymnastics coach Karla Villanueva-Bernal. “It is 400 gymnasts that are competing from internationally, from the Mainland and, of course, from different islands. It’s pretty much a professional competition with judges that are sometimes even Olympic judges.”
The group that represented Kauai at the competition were: Kealalani Contredas, 14, Auree Cardinez, 11, Kailar Aguiar, 6, Alexis Telles, 8, Graciella Rhinelander, 9, and Megan Taogoshi, 13.
Villanueva-Bernal said young gymnasts are sorted into levels under USA Gymnastics rules ranging from Level 1 through Level 10. Garden Island Gymnastics’ Level 3 gymnasts are Aguiar, Telles and Taogoshi; Level 4 gymnasts are Contredas, Cardinez and Rhinelander.
All of them received scores that helped them qualify for a state meet later this year, Villanueva-Bernal said. For the Level 3 gymnasts, the Aloha Gymfest was their first competition.
The state meet, Villanueva-Bernal said, is the “Super Bowl for gymnastics for their levels.”
“The state meet is usually in the fall. My Level 4s have to do one more meet and, of course, hit the above scoring of 32. And I know they’re fine because they’re already past that,” Villanueva-Bernal said. “My Level 3s don’t have to have another competition until the fall. And our state competition is usually in November. It’s usually held on Oahu, but sometimes it hosted on Big Island.”
The competition’s second day, in which the Level 4 gymnasts competed, was the day a missile warning spread throughout the state, then turned out to be a false alarm.
“They’re pretty amazing. Especially for my Level 3s, who are competing against other kids who’ve done 30-and-up competitions, way more under their sleeves, and these girls it’s their first time competing. To be put under that pressure and they did really well, that makes me feel really good as their coach,” Villanueva-Bernal said. “I’m so proud because all the hard work they’ve done here, it shows through.
“And my Level 4s, after going through that craziness and still putting their head in the game and competing and still doing really well, and some of the girls placing, I think they’re representing Kauai pretty good for what the foundation of gymnastics should be. I’m super proud about that.”
