Members of the IGN team and coaches at nationals, include, from the left, back row — coach Olivia Holden, Sophia Wheeler and coach Carly Brubeck; middle row - Mia Padgett and Adele Wheeler; front row - Meadow Padgett and Logan Parker.
Submitted Photo
GREENFIELD — A long-standing gymnastics club located in Greenfield made its return to the national stage in June.
The Indiana Gym Nest gymnastics club, also known as IGN, had five girls advance to the National Gymnastics Association national competition held in New Orleans, Louisiana, from June 17–21, where they competed against gymnasts from all across the country.
The five-day competition took place over 14 sessions and saw competition in age groups ranging from eight to 14 years old. This year a total of 1,746 athletes competed in the national event.
“It’s definitely a unique experience with all the different teams and competitors there,” IGN’s Kim Parker said. “Our girls represented us very well, though.”
The IGN competition team competes under the National Gymnastics Association umbrella and competes in meets throughout the state in the fall, winter, and summer leading up to nationals.
To advance to the national competition, gymnasts must meet a baseline score recognized by their gym, along with scores set at both the state and regional competitions.
This year, gymnasts in a range of different age groups met those requirements. Meadow Padgett and Logan Parker were the youngest gymnasts to qualify, and both competed in the 8-year-old division. Mia Padgett competed in the 10-year-old division, Adele Wheeler competed in the 11-year-old group, and Sophia Wheeler competed in the 14-year-old division.
The sheer amount of competitors didn’t phase the IGN gymnasts, with all five girls finishing the competition ranked in the top 10 in their age divisions. Two of the gymnasts, Logan Parker and Mia Padgett, were crowned all-around national champions.
“There are over 1,500 competitors there from all over the country, so the competition is tough, but the girls did a really good job this year,” Kim Parker said.
With four events — beam, bars, floor and vault — totaling a max of 40 points, all five IGN competitors scored an all-around mark higher than 37.
Logan Parker competed in the 8-year-old gold division and had an all-around winning score of 38.425. She was also a national champion individually on the bars, beam and floor.
Mia Padgett competed in the 10-year-old Level 4 division and was the team’s second national champion in the all-around. She scored a 38.95 for first place and joined Parker in taking home the top spot on the beam and floor as well.
In the 11-year-old gold division, Adele Wheeler took home third place with an all-around score of 37.8, and in the 8-year-old gold division, Meadow Padgett earned fourth place with a score of 37.875.
Sophia Wheeler rounded out the team’s competitors with an all-around score of 37.15 and a ninth-place finish in the 14-year-old gold division.
Along with their top 10 overall finishes, Mia Padgett, Meadow Padgett, Adele Wheeler, and Logan Parker were all crowned “Beam Queens” for scoring 9.5 or higher on the beam. Mia Padgett scored a 9.8, Logan Parker scored a 9.675, Wheeler had a 9.6, and Meadow Padgett finished with a 9.55.
“These young ladies represented our gym and town well at this event,” Kim Parker said. “We are extremely proud of all of our gymnasts.”
Indiana Gym Nest is owned by Byron and Teresa Holden and was opened in Greenfield in September 1974. It is currently run by their daughters, Carly Brubeck and Olivia Holden. The competition team competes year-round and has competitors ranging from ages five to 14. Byron and Teresa Holden were inducted into the Indiana Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 2012, and Byron is a nationally ranked gymnastics judge. The IGN competition team consists of 30-plus athletes from the area, with the majority from either Greenfield or New Palestine.
