Local gymnast competing at YMCA nationals in Wisconsin

Published 4:52 am Tuesday, December 6, 2005

VALDOSTA — An 11-year old gymnast from Valdosta will compete in the 2005 YMCA National Gymnastics Championships in Menomonie, Wisconsin.

Kenyadah Prime will be heading to nationals to compete against some of the best gymnasts in the country.

“I’m excited about going,” Prime said. “It will be fun. I can’t wait.”

Prime, who competes for the Valdosta YMCA, will compete as a level 7 gymnast in Wisconsin. Young gymnasts are ranked from levels 1 to 10, with 10 being the most elite.

Prime has been a state champion on vault the last three years. She won this year’s state title with a very impressive score of 9.775, meaning it was both difficult and nearly flawless.

Prime is 1 of only 19 gymnasts from the State of Georgia to make YMCA nationals. The Moultrie YMCA is sending 14 competitors and the Houston County YMCA is sending four.

In order to qualify for nationals, Prime had to have a combined score of at least 31 at the state meet in the all-around competition (vault, balance beam, floor and uneven bars, each judged on a 10-point scale). She scored a 35. She won the vault, and placed second in the overall.

Since qualifying for nationals, Prime has gotten even better. She qualified as a level 7 gymnast, but has since been promoted to level 8. She’s the Valdosta YMCA’s first-ever level 8 gymnast.

To get ready for nationals, Prime has been training with the Moultrie YMCA team. That means almost daily trips to Moultrie, about 45 miles away, but it’s worth it to her and her family.

“We’ve had to make sacrifices for her to be able to do gymnastics, but you know, it’s worth it,” Kenyadah’s father, Eric, said. “She loves gymnastics, and we’re going to do whatever we can so that she can be a gymnast.

“She does this because she loves it. We’ve never pushed her to do this. And if one day she decides she’d rather do something else, that’s fine. We’ll support her in that.”

But Kenyadah plans on continuing to be a gymnast for a while. Every summer, she attends camps at the University of Georgia and at Brown’s Gym in Apopka, Fla. (one of the nation’s top gymnastics schools). Her dream is to become a Gym Dog, a member of Georgia’s gymnastics team. The Gym Dogs are perennial national championship contenders.

Kenyadah Prime has been taking gymnastics since she was six- years old, and has been on the Valdosta YMCA team since she was eight.

“I like gymnastics a lot,” she said. “A lot of the things you do are hard, but I enjoy doing hard things, and progressing in it.”

In the past three years, Prime has won numerous medals at gymnastics meets. Her mother, Mae Gardner, has about 55 of Kenyadah’s medals hanging up at home.

Outside the gym, Prime is an upcoming sixth grader at Southland Christian School, and an honor student. Last year at Southland, nearly all of her grades were in the high 80s or the 90s, including a pair of 98s. She did not miss a class all year.