Sports

Shoreline Gymnast Amanda Tran Prepares for National Team Challenge

The Shorewood sophomore is on the junior national rhythmic gymnastics team and nearing Olympic level

Qualifying at the national level for any sport is a great feat. For Shorewood High School sophomore Amanda Tran, it’s the first time time’s she’s made the national team for rhythmic gymnastics and she’s heading off to Colorado Springs this weekend to put her skills to the test.

Tran is  attending the 2011 Rhythmic Invitational Group Championships and Challenge March 2-6 in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Rhythmic gymnastics is one of the three categories of gymnastics at the Olympics, but is the lesser known one in the U.S. Everyone knows about artistic gymnastics with the balance beam and uneven bars. There’s also trampoline gymnastics.

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Rhythmic uses four different equipment synchronized to music in a floor routine: ball, hoop, rope, clubs and ribbon.

“I’ve been working hard and am excited about this weekend,” she said. “I’m nervous, but I think I’m prepared. I hope all goes well.”

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After going through all the competition rings—state, regional, national qualifier—she made it to the Visa National Championships the last few years. The National team is made up of the top eight girls at Visa and she placed sixth in 2010 and seventh in 2009, putting her on the junior national team both years.

This year, she turned 16 on Feb. 19. At 16, she’s now considered a senior and can qualify for the National, or the Olympic, team. She will be competing against current senior national team girls. Those that place high are assigned to international competitions. The higher the placement, the more prestigious the international competition the girl will be sent to.

“This one will be tough because she’s going up against girls that made the senior national team and have been training on it,” said Irina Korosteve, Tran’s coach at Kortel Academy of Gymnastics. “It’ll be a good competition to see how she measures up and see what we’re up against.”

Here's a list of who's currently on the senior and junior national teams: 

There are limited entries for Level 7 through 10 and those are invitational only and will not be competing against or for the national team.

The Visa championships are in August, but next year, it will be in July because it’s an Olympic year so the season is cut short to give Olympic qualifiers time to practice.

The next competition is the state level, however, and with Tran already on the national team,  she can skip the state and regional and just go to the national qualifier.

“I’m very proud of her and how much work she puts into it,” said Tran's mother Jennifer. “She’s a very dedicated girl.”

She practices five days a week in the off-season and six days a week normally. She is also academically dedicated as she’s in all honor classes and gets straight A’s. She also fits in peer tutoring and is looking at Ivy League schools already. She volunteers on the weekends. She is a Gleek and watches the TV show Glee in her free time.


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