Medfield Resident Qualifies for Region 6 National Gymnastics Team

Editor's note: The following was submitted by Medfield resident Cathy Chung.

Addison Chung, a seventh grader at Medfield’s , recently competed at the Men’s USA Gymnastics Region 6 Championships.

Chung placed fifth all around and qualified for the six-member Region 6 Level 9 National Team. The team will compete in May at the 2012 US Men’s Jr. Olympic Championships in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Thirty-nine boys from Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island participated in the Level 9 Regional Championships in Braintree on April 14. These 11 to 13-year-old boys are the best level 9 gymnasts in their respective states and compete in six events: Floor exercise, pommel horse, still rings, vault, parallel bars and horizontal bar. 

In addition to taking fifth all around, Chung placed third on vault, and fourth on both high bar and still rings. The NESA Level 9 boys (Chung, Zeyad Zoromba of Norwood, Jonathan Wang of Newton, Daniel Clark of Avon and Wolfgang Personeus of Rhode Island) also took home the first place team trophy.

NESA’s Mark Springett, of Dover, placed fifth in the Level 10 competition – earning a place on the Region 6 Level 10 National Team. Teammate Mon Henglin, of Newton, qualified as the team’s alternate.

In March, Chung competed at the USAG Massachusetts State Championships, where he qualified for the regional competition. There, he was named the Massachusetts High Bar Champion for 2012.

Chung started competing Level 5 gymnastics at six years old and trains year-round at the New England Sports Academy in Westwood. Chung finds the gymnastics strength and conditioning beneficial for spring and summer baseball. Coach Levon Karakhanyan holds many international titles, including four-time Armenian National Champion and two-time USSR Champion. Since coming to the U.S. in 2000, Karakhanyan has coached several gymnasts who have qualified for the New England Regional Team, the Junior National Team and the Junior National Development Team. 

Many have gone on to earn scholarships and compete at colleges such as Stanford, MIT, William & Mary, Penn State, Navy and Air Force. More photos and information can be found at the team website by clicking here.

Free trial recreational classes are available at NESA for boys ages four through 11.