Triple T gymnasts go to regionals
Published 9:41 pm Wednesday, May 4, 2016
![From left, Favour Davis, Emma Mason, Israel Lewis and Chris Ackiss were the four gymnasts from Triple T to compete in regional competitions recently.](https://www.suffolknewsherald.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/19/2016/05/use-Triple-T-Regional-Athletes.jpg)
From left, Favour Davis, Emma Mason, Israel Lewis and Chris Ackiss were the four gymnasts from Triple T to compete in regional competitions recently.
Four gymnasts from Triple T gymnastics competed and did well in regional competitions recently.
Chris Ackiss, 11, placed ninth all-around, sixth on pommel horse and sixth on rings.
Favour Davis, 14, placed 10th all-around and helped the Virginia state team win first place team in the Senior B age division.
Israel Lewis, 9, placed 12th on pommel horse.
Emma Mason, 10, also qualified for and competed in the regional competition after placing in the state competition.
“I did awesome,” said Chris, summing up his performance in the Level 5 competition. “I was glad that I got a high score.”
Chris has been doing gymnastics since he was very young. He got into it because “I wanted to do flips and stuff,” he said.
The rings are his favorite event, he added. “It takes a lot of strength.”
Favour said she was pleased with her performance.
“My best event was actually vault,” she said. “That’s usually my best event. On beam, my coach was proud of me because I followed through on all my form.”
She started doing gymnastics when she was 3 years old after a cousin signed her up for it. “I just tried it and went back,” she said.
Israel said he “felt proud” of his performance. He’s a powerhouse on the pommel horse, as he holds two state titles in the pommel horse as well as his new 12th-place finish at regionals.
“It was a good time,” he said. He finished 36th in the all-around standings.
Emma said her best event at the competition was bars, which is her usual best event.
“It’s just kind of easy for me,” she said.
“I was proud of myself, but I thought I could do better than what I did,” Emma said.
She was only 2 years old when she started doing gymnastics.
“Ever since then, I’ve loved gymnastics, and I’ve never wanted to stop.”
The coaches said they were proud of their regionals finishers.
“They worked very hard this past season,” said Donna Ranzy, the girls’ coach. “Making it to regionals shows how hard they wanted it.”
“The boys did a great job,” said Kareem Phillips, the boys’ coach, adding that the gymnasts will be an example and inspiration to their younger teammates. “We’re trying to make big changes here at Triple T. We’re in the building phase.”