Winchester Youths Win Gymnastics Competition

Earlier this summer, the USA Gymnastics Open Championships was held in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.

The event was sponsored by ESPN and Disney Sports.

Six Winchester residents entered the competition and brought home 20 medals – 10 gold, five silver and five bronze, including a second place showing out of all the teams in the country.

The North East Rhythmic Gymnastics Team is coached by Ralista Kalmukova, leading her team out of the Gymnastics and More gym in Woburn.

“I am so proud of my girls, they worked so hard to get to this level of competition, their performance was amazing,” explained Coach Kalmukova.

Here's a quick rundown of the six winners from Winchester, events were broken up by age group and level:

• Victoria Grigorova (Age 9) – Second National Champion with rope and third with hoop.

• Suning Wang (Age 10) - All Around National Champion with hoop, ball and floor.

• Angela Liu (Age 10) - Third All Around National Champion, second with ball and third with hoop.

• Anissa Sroka (Age 11) – All Around National Champion with hoop and floor in her age group.

• Samantha Lee (Age 11) – Third All Around National Champion with ball and tie for first on floor with Anissa.

• Jessica Sun (Age 12) - Second All Around National Champion, second with hoop, third with floor.

“I started Rhythmic Gymnastics when I was eight,” mentioned gymnast, Angela Liu. “I think Rhythmic Gymnastics is fun and interesting. I like the art and music inside it. It's graceful and elegant. It tests the strength, flexibility, balance and ability as a gymnast.”

What's next for the North East Rhythmic Gymnastics Team?

“I am still building my team of girls ages five to 12. Gymnastics aren't as popular as they are in my home country of Bulgaria, so we are always looking for girls, and we are the only program that performs at this level north of Boston,” Kalmukova said.