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Berkeley gymnasts place well at state championships
Golden Bear Gymnastic Team members Ryan Race, Marissa Tolero and Jane Hartman, the only representatives from Berkeley, participated in NorCal’s Level 7 State Championships in Rohnert Park over the weekend of March 24-25 and came home winners.
On Saturday, Marissa Tolero competed with 53 top gymnasts in the 11-year-old category and waited until the final rotation of the four-event rotation before winning the state title with her performance on the balance beam, scoring 9.3 and beating eventual all-around winner Stephanie Cheng of San Jose. Tolero has now won the state beam championship three consecutive years in three different Levels.
On Sunday, 12-year-old Ryan Race won the state uneven bars title by posting a score of 9.5 over 53 other gymnasts. She also placed second in vault (9.35) and all-around (37.4), then third in the balance beam with a score of 9.325, respectively. Race was named to the All-State Team by virtue of her all-around score.
Jane Hartman, also 12, tied for silver with a 9.45 score in the floor exercise. The trio’s Golden Bear teammates Michelle Estrada of Pinole, Amanda Wolf of Orinda and Lani Fung of Piedmont contributed their scores to help win the Second Place Team Trophy.
The three Berkeley participants all attend Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School in Berkeley.
They are now concentrating on competing at the upcoming USAIGC Regionals being held at San Dimas on May 5-6 to qualify to the National Championships.
