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06/25/2020 12:00 AMElla Esposito recently finished her freshman year as a gymnast at Guilford High School. It was a year that saw Ella achieve tremendous success as she represented Guilford as a team-of-one, while training with the gymnastics team at Daniel Hand High School in Madison.
Ella started competing in gymnastics when she was four, and her love for the sport has really taken off since then. In her freshman season, Ella earned All-Conference honors by taking sixth place in the all-around at the SCC Championship meet. She’s looking forward to continue improving upon her performances throughout the next three seasons.
“I have been doing gymnastics for 11 years. I was always doing cartwheels and flipping around, so my mom decided to sign me up,” Ella says. “My favorite thing about gymnastics is getting to learn new skills and complete them. I love working on new things. I feel so accomplished when I get to complete the skills after working so hard to get them.”
Hand gymnastics Head Coach Kelly Smith enjoyed working with Ella this year. Smith raved about how Ella performed as a freshman and praised her for displaying an excellent work ethic.
“I just met Ella this year, but she’s hard-working, extremely talented, and has great potential for her high school career,” says Smith. “It’s a great accomplishment to be All-SCC as a freshman, and she has a lot of additional difficulty in the works to add to her routines in the future. She’ll be vying for State Open qualification next year for sure. She’s been great to work with, and we’re excited for the next three years together.”
Ella claimed fifth place for the floor event to highlight her all-around sixth-place finish at SCCs. While most of Ella’s big moments came during her meets, she enjoyed practicing just as much, because that was where she was able to perfect her routines. During her practices with the team at Hand, Ella was able to pull off a giant—a skill in which a gymnast rotates 360 degrees around an axis while in a fully extended position—on the bars.
“My favorite part of the season was when I got my giants in practice. It was so exciting, and everyone was cheering for me,” Ella says. “And my relationship with Coach Kelly is great. She has helped me so much with my gymnastics and is an amazing coach.”
Aside from the high school circuit, Ella also competes for TNT Gymnastics in Guilford. Ella typically puts in a minimum of 14 hours a week of gymnastics training—even more during the high school season.
“I practice a lot and train year-round,” says Ella, who also participated in track in middle school. “Aside from gymnastics, I really enjoy hanging out with my friends and doing outdoor actives like paddle boarding and hiking in my free time.”
On the heels of her excellent freshman campaign, Ella has set high goals for the rest of her high school career. One of Ella’s biggest goals is to qualify for two of the biggest meets that any high school gymnast can compete in.
“My goal is to qualify for the State Open next season and regionals in the future. I also want to make the All-SCC Team again next year,” Ella says. “Competing at TNT Gymnastics has really helped me improve my skills as a gymnast, and I’m hoping that it helps take me to the next level in the coming seasons.”