Northwest High School student Maddie Girard works on her routine on the beam during a recent Jackson Area Gymnastics practice at Hunt Elementary School
Jeff Steers
JTV Sports
Lumen Christi Catholic High School senior Brooke Green was wearing her JAG apparel to school earlier in the year.
Someone noted that she was wearing Jackson High School stuff.
JHS and five other local schools.
The Jackson Area Gymnastics incorporates six Jackson County schools with Jackson Public Schools as the administrator. The other five are Lumen Christi, Northwest, Grass Lake, Napoleon and Concord.
The combination of more than 20 gymnasts has JAG flying high so far this season.
“We are undefeated in the South Central Gymnastics Conference,” Coach Marcy Miller said. “We have had some injuries that have taken a toll on our team, but we are competing well and continue to work hard toward that conference title.”
The five schools have a signed cooperative agreement with Jackson High School as approved by the Michigan High School Athletic Association. The team has a coop agreement with Concord, but currently does not have any CHS students on the team.
Students or the school district pay a fee to be involved in the sport.
“We are approach by various schools through the athletes to be part of the coop,” Miller said. “It is a sport that takes a lot of time.”
Students train at SASGC Gymnastics at Hunt Elementary School. Miller rents space at the former location of the Hunt pool and runs a gymnastics business for students in kindergarten through 12th grade.
Numerous students have trained at the facility through Miller.
Green, of LCCHS, has been on the JAG team for four year.
“I have been doing gymnastics for 14 years and have competed and trained with a lot of the area gymnasts,” Green said. “It is fun in high school because of the bond that we all have.”
Green said the sport of gymnastics teaches student a lot about life.
“Gymnastics teaches you to continue to fight,” Green said. “I am a bit of a clumsy person, but I am always able to get back up and continue.”
Grass Lake student Abi Grimm started at the training facility last summer. She has been in the sport for 12 years but found out last spring the joys of being part of a team.
“I was a member of the track team at Grass Lake last spring and I liked being on a team,” Grimm said.
She car pools with Amelia Hamlin in order to get to practice and meets. The two have been friends for years.
Grimm specializes on the bars but has a high score of 9.375 on the beam. She competes in the all-around at the competitions. Grimm recently took third place in the all-around against Tecumseh. Hamlin of Grass Lake was second and Maddie Girard of Northwest took first place.
Green took first place on the vault, Emily Pelton of Northwest was second on the beam and third on the floor exercise.
JAG finished with a team score of 138.4 to defeat Tecumseh.
The team has done well at qualifying gymnasts for the regional meet.
“We currently have 15 of 19 team members advancing individually to regionals with the hopes of qualifying the remaining four gymnasts as well,” Miller said.
Madi Bliss of Grass Lake High School keeps an eye on the floor during a practice routine.
