Karen Kistler

karen.kistler@salisburypost.com

 

SALISBURY — They are medalists.

That’s something that the girls’ competitive gymnastics team at Vasi’s International Gymnastics can claim as they brought home platinum, gold, silver and bronze medals at the recent state and regional championships.

Both competitions were held at the Greensboro Coliseum, with the state championships held on the weekend of April 25-27 and the regionals were the weekend of June 6-8.

Vasile Cioana, owner of Vasi’s International Gymnastics, 625 Corporate Circle, Salisbury said there are 19 girls on the team who compete at different levels and are ages, ranging from seven to 16.

Prior to their going to the regionals, he said that the girls did well, and he was “impressed with how well they did at state.”

Their medal count at the state event were six gold, seven silver and one bronze medal in the All Around Competition and 19 gold, 20 silver and nine bronze medals in individual events.

When they returned home and were preparing for the regionals, Cioana said they were “excited because if the girls compete as well as in the state, we should come home with a lot of medals,” which they did.

“The girls did as expected,” he said, adding that “against the best gymnasts in the region of Virginia, Tennessee, Ohio, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina, we came home with 38 top three medals and 31 medals placing between fourth and sixth.”

The members of the team and their placements at the regional competition are Peytan Bloxsom, bronze; Rachel Epley, gold; Arianna Fuller, gold; Jessica Gaines, silver; Naomi Haynes, silver; Rylyn Heister, bronze; Kinsely Luepke, gold; Madeleine Miller, silver; Ella Reid, silver; Finley Safrit, gold; Ramona Scotto Di Perta, gold; Samantha Sloop, platinum; Avery Squirewell, bronze; Chyler Staton, silver; Christlynn Steverson, silver; Brooklyn Walker, bronze; Sayde Walton, bronze; and Riley Wilder, gold.

Vivian Selby is also a member of the team; however, unfortunately due to an injury, she was not able to finish the season and compete at regionals.

These girls are coached by Mallory Cioana, Amanda Proschuk, Melanie Westbrook, Maggie Wise and Vasi Cioana. They also offer a recreational program and all of the team coaches teach classes in that as well.

Cioana noted their program is called AAU, Amateur Athletic Union, and in it there are different levels, which include bronze, silver, gold, and platinum and they do four events, the balance beam, floor exercises, uneven bars and vault. 

In their placement, he said that the girls won many individual events noting the fact that approximately “95 percent of our girls either won or came in second in their age division.” But he went on to say that the majority of them won the All Around, “which is all four events combined,” which, he said, “is the most important. When you win the All Around, that’s when you’re the best.”

In speaking about the girls’ winning, Cioana credited the girls saying that “it’s not about us coaching. Yes, we feel good when the kids are winning, but it’s about them. They put the work into it.”

It is an invitation only process to be placed on the competitive team, he said with the top thing they look for being attitude toward the sport, meaning “are they here to just have fun or do they want more.”

He noted that some come to take part in the recreational program, which is for ages one to 16 where they can just have fun; however to be in the competition part, he said, “we want to see if they are more into the sport, a little more serious about it. They don’t have to be good because we make them good. It’s important for them to be ‘I want to do more and I want to put the work into it.’ The rest is easy.”

He did note that those in the recreational classes are working on skills that are required for competitions and therefore, “it’s easier for us to make selections from our recreational program to put them into a special group that have a path toward competing,” Cioana said.

The recreational program is a yearlong program plus they also offer a gymnastics summer camp and on June 16, they are launching a Nerf Camp.

Cioana shared that he has been involved in gymnastics for many years. From Romania, he was on their national team for about 12 years, traveling internationally and making their Olympic team twice. However, he said he unfortunately never went to the actual Olympics, but was in the top three in the country.

He came to the United States as an athlete for an international meet, and on his third trip in 1999 decided to remain, he said. He continued training and competing and in 2007 opened his first gym in Connecticut. In 2023 he came to North Carolina, purchasing this gym in December, taking over the program and the girls’ team.

“In the first year, we moved them (the girls) up. Everybody moved up to the next level. So we worked hard,” he said.

That was his goal in 2007, he said, that every girl should have the opportunity to move up a level from year to year.

The competition season ends in June with the months following until December to get ready for the next level of competition as the new season begins in January.

He said it might sound like a lot of time, but with summer vacations and holidays there’s not that much time to get those new skills and be prepared.

“So these girls didn’t have a lot of time and we promised them we were going to let them compete and get ready for the next level, and they worked really hard and they all got ready for the next competitive level,” said Cioana.

When asked what drew him to want to compete in gymnastics, he said that it’s hard, “but also it always brings you back to the sport.” 

He quit multiple times, but he always returned, saying that “I could not stay out of the sport. I’m not sure what it is about the sport but it happens with our athletes most of the time” telling that some want to take a break and try something different, but “ they always, always come back because they miss it.”

Cioana shared that he has had students that went off to college and returned to the club because they missed that club aspect of gymnastics. 

The atmosphere there, he said, is one where they strive to be role models for the kids and build relationships making sure they have eaten enough and done their homework and checking to see how their day was and how school went, all before they start to coach.

“At the end of the day, we want the best for the kids,” said Cioana. “We also want the best in every aspect. We want them to feel comfortable coming to the gym. We want them to never quit the sport because of us.”

With state and regional championships behind them, there are nationals, which most of the students qualified for; however, he said they are expensive and not enough were able to attend for them to make the trip.

But Cioana wants that to change next year as he plans on having some fundraising programs so they can get there. Going to nationals is a once in a lifetime experience, he said, adding that if they qualify, they should be there.

“We’re going to make it happen for next year,” he said.

Cioana said that the gym is not new, but they are new, bringing in a new program and changing lots of things.

He said that in Connecticut the coaches, students and their families all became a family, and became part of the town, which made them feel good, and they want to do that here as well, he said.

“We want to welcome everybody. We want to make ourselves known, and we have a lot to offer not only as coaches, but we like to think that we help the kids whether in the gym or outside, we try to help everybody,” he said. Their goal is to get themselves known.

“We’ve been here for a year and a half, and we have a ways to go, but we’re here,” said Cioana.