Concord’s Liberty Gymnastics girls excel at Regionals
CONCORD, CA — Female gymnasts from Liberty Gymnastics of Concord won four first-place medals at the United States Artistic Gymnastics Region 1 Championships in Chandler, Arizona last month competing against top gymnasts from Arizona, California, Nevada and Utah.
The local girls who brought home championship medals were Rozlynn Smithwick of Clayton (Level 8 balance beam), Savannah Lewis (Level 7 uneven parallel bars and beam), Leila Yabut (Level 7 beam, floor exercise and all-around) and Mollie Adams of Concord (level 6 bars and floor).
That quartet, along with Concord’s Samantha Morimoto (level 8) and level 6 Noelle Romeo, earned spots on the 12-person NorCal team that competed in the event. “Having one or two kids named to the NorCal team would have been great, but six was completely unexpected and a huge accomplishment for Liberty Gymnastics,” said team co-director Bonnie Schreiner.
The Liberty Gymnastics team includes, from left, Smithwick, Ryleigh Rossi, Lewis, Adams, Morimoto, Yabut, Olivia Strohmeier and Romeo.
Jay Bedecarré
Jay Bedecarré is a long-time resident and writer in Concord and Clayton. He began his newspaper writing career while still a senior at Mt. Diablo High School and he has been part of The Pioneer since its inception in 2003. Jay also operates Bay Area Festivals, presenting events around the San Francisco Bay Area including Bay Area KidFest annually in Downtown Concord.