Milano places 8th in the USAG National Eastern Championships. Milano is a junior at WHS. Photo courtesy of Amelia Milano.

Amelia Milano placed eighth at the United States of America Gymnastics (USAG) Eastern National Championships on May 5. 

Milano has been involved in gymnastics for 13 years. She has spent seven of those years with Pinnacle Gymnastics. 

She competes in all around, meaning she competes in all events. This includes vault, bar, beam, and floor. 

“Bars is my favorite,” Milano said. 

In order to qualify for nationals, she had to first qualify for the Ohio USAG State Meet and then the  Level 9-10 Region 5 Championships. 

To qualify for the State Meet she had to get a certain all-around score in the five meets she competed in throughout the regular gymnastics season. The state meet was in Dayton, Ohio, on March 22. 

Then, at the State level, Milano had to receive an all-around score of 34 to qualify for Regionals. 

The Regional Competition took place in Louisville, Kentucky, on April 13. 

“The Regional meet hosts the best of the best gymnasts across Region 5, which includes Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan and Ohio,” said Amy Alexander, Milano’s coach at Pinnacle Gymnastics. “At Regionals, Amelia needed to place in the top seven, and she took fourth place to secure her spot on the Region 5 Dream Team.”

The top seven highest-scoring girls from Region 5 were given the opportunity to compete at the national level.

“It was super fun,” Milano said. “It was me and the six other girls and we just supported each other.” 

She ranked highly at Nationals, placing eighth. There were 28 girls in her age group in total. 

“I did really well, it was my best meet of the season,” Milano said. 

Her coach is very proud of her for achieving this honor. 

“I cannot think of anyone more deserving of having that moment,” Alexander said. “She has overcome so many obstacles over the years, and has persevered while being an exceptional role model to all of the gymnasts in our program.”

The USAG Eastern National Championships was held in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. 

“It was really exciting, it was a great opportunity and I got a vacation out of it too,”  Milano said. 

She believes that the hardest part of this process is staying consistent throughout the season. 

“I go to practice and I practice all year round and I only get to compete once,”  Milano said. 

While training, Milano and her coach worked on consistency, as well as preparing for the competition both mentally and physically. 

“Our mantra for this competitive season was feeling prepared, confident and supported,” Alexander said. 

“I train all year round, so now it’s upgrade season where I learn new skills,” Milano said. 

She plans to compete again next year, it will be her last year competing at the high school level. 

Milano wants to continue to compete in gymnastics in college but is still unsure.