Redwood Coast Gymnasts Medal at Regional Championships

Maya Dalton

Press release from Redwood Coast Gymnastics:

Redwood Coast Gymnastics capped a successful spring season with strong performances at the 2026 Regional Championship meets, bringing home multiple medals and personal bests. Competing in USA Gymnastics Region 1, which includes Northern California, Southern California, Nevada, Utah, and Arizona, local athletes represented Humboldt County at two championship events in April.

On April 18-19, 12-year-old Momo Baxter traveled to Petaluma for the Level 6 Regional Championships. Wrapping up her first season as a Level 6, Baxter performed very strongly on her best event, vault, placing fourth with a score of 9.375.

Four Humboldt gymnasts then competed April 23-26 in Park City, Utah, at the 2026 Xcel Gold Regional Championships, a four-day event featuring more than 2,300 gymnasts from across California, Utah, Nevada, and Arizona. With strong tumbling and dynamic dance, nine-year-old Maya Dalton brought home the silver medal on floor, earning second place in her age division, with a score of 9.45. She also earned a personal best on bars with a score of 8.9 and medalled on vault (8.85 for 8th place). Hannah Naylor, 11, delivered a strong performance on floor exercise, scoring 9.3 to place fifth. She added a personal-best 9.2 on bars.

Myiah Punch

Teammate Myiah Punch, 13, recorded Redwood Coast’s top bar score of the meet with a 9.45, placing sixth in her division. Punch also led the team in the all around (36.325) as well as on balance beam, medalling in eighth place with a 9.1. Addie Bellerman, 11, highlighted her meet with a 9.1 on floor exercise. Fifteen-year-old Kaile’a Townsend also earned a qualifying score for the regional championships, though she was unable to attend the Utah competition.

In recent years, Redwood Coast Gymnastics has primarily competed in the USA Gymnastics Developmental Program, which progresses from Levels 2 through 10 and into the elite ranks seen in international competition. Lower levels (2-5) follow compulsory routines, while Levels 6 and above allow athletes to perform customized routines that meet specific skill requirements. This season, however, the club introduced the lower-level athletes to the USAG Xcel Program, which allows individualized routines tailored to each gymnast’s strengths. The shift gave athletes opportunities to explore new skills and to face new challenges, like the Regional Championships, which otherwise are unavailable to gymnasts until reaching level 6. Head coach Brian Van Pelt praised the team’s effort during the transition. “2026 represented a new experience for the athletes, coaches, and parents, and I am very grateful for the support that the Team received from the parents and families as we worked through this experiment,” Van Pelt said. “The coaches find themselves uplifted and impressed with how hard the girls worked under this new system, and we are all very pleased with the results that our athletes were able to garner.”

With a combination of medals, personal bests, and new competitive experiences, Redwood Coast Gymnastics athletes and coaches will take a well-deserved break from competition before preparing new skills and new levels for the fall season. Training continues year-round at Flips for Kids Gymnastics in Eureka.

Hannah Naylor and Addie Bellerman