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Jessica Batt: Jessica started gymnastics as a preschooler and has continued her interest in the sport throughout her school days. Jessica loves working with the preschool aged children and hopes to someday become a pediatrician.
Tricia Biancone: Tricia was a Buckeye Gymnast for many years and later became one of the strongest teachers and coaches we have ever had at Buckeye. Tricia has returned to Central Ohio after having owned and operated her own gymnastics and cheer schools for many years. Tricia is the Gym Stars Program Director in Westerville and she also works specifically with the Westerville Cheer Stars on tumbling, stunting, and jumps and in the Tumble Bear program.
Emily Bosch: Emily competed in gymnastics for 11 years in the Cleveland area and was also a cheerleader. She cheered for her high school and was also a NCA All American. Emily graduated from Wright State with a degree in Early Childhood Education. While at Wright State Emily coached both gymnastics and cheerleading. In additional to her teaching duties at Buckeye Emily substitute teaches in the Hilliard school system. We welcome this warm and accomplished teacher to the staff at Buckeye.
Kittia Carpenter: Kittia is the Girls Team Director at Buckeye Gymnastics. In the 20 years that Kittia has been coaching at Buckeye her gymnasts have won over 1,000 state, regional, and national titles. She was an elite gymnast herself and a former elite national champion and she attended Arizona State University on a full athletic scholarship. Kittia is also a brevet judge and she has judged the top American athletes at the most important competitions in the country including Championships of the USA and the Olympic Team Trials. In addition, Kittia was elected by the coaches and judges in Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky, Illinois, and Indiana to serve on the Region 5 Board for USA Gymnastics.
Laura Clark: Laura was a former Level 10 gymnast and many time state and regional champion and a national and international competitor for Buckeye Gymnastics. Laura continued her gymnastics career as a full-scholarship gymnast at Northern Illinois University where she earned honors as the NIT Beam Champion in 1994 and the Midwest Independent Beam Champion in 1997. She was a member of the 1996 NCAA regional qualifying team and still holds the all-time beam scoring record of 9.975. She holds a B.A. in Psychology. Since graduation Laura has been coaching gymnastics in Toledo and now in Central Ohio.
Nick D'Errico: Nick is a former State of Ohio Gymnastics Champion who comes to us from the NE part of the state. Nick is a graduate of Youngstown State University where he cheered for 4 years during the rise of Jim Tressel. Nick earned an undergraduate degree in Special Education at YSU and a graduate degree in Counseling from Westminster and he uses that degree in his work as a counselor in the Olentangy School District. Nick is First Aid and Safety Certified and he uses those certifications in his coaching at BCE.
Becky Doggette: Becky has been involved in gymnastics since she was six years old. She was a top performer at Buckeye Gymnastics for seven years as she won many individual state titles and helped the Buckeye team win six State Team titles. She competed at the J.O. National Championships in Dallas where she caught the eye of the coaches from West Virginia University. She ended up going to WVU on a full athletic scholarship in gymnastics and leading the Lady Mountaineers to four winning seasons. She has been an important component to our coaching staff at Buckeye for many years and she has developed many state champions.
Kea Early: Kea was a gymnast for 8 years at the YMCA in Newark and finished her competitive career as a level 8. After retiring her leotard Kea stayed in the gym as a teacher and a coach for three years before coming to Buckeye. Kea enjoys teaching all ages and abilities but she seems to particularly like working with girls from the 5th to the 8th grade. They like her too and Kea is a very effective and popular teacher at Buckeye.
Laura Flechtner: Laura competed in gymnastics for six years and has taught gymnastics for ten more, the last seven years at Buckeye. Laura is a graduate of Capital University holding a degree in Biology and Psychology. Laura recently returned from a six-week internship at Rushmore Gymnastics in London, England, where she shared with our British sister club the details of running an American style gymnastics school.
Heather Gladman: Heather is the Gym Stars Director at Buckeye Gymnastics Powell. Heather comes to us with a wealth of experience both as an athlete and as a coach and administrator. She was both a gymnast and a cheerleader and she competed to a national level. She has taught gymnastics and cheerleading for five years and directed the gymnastics program at the Fairfield County YMCA where she also coached the team at all levels. She also directs the Scarlet Team at Powell and the Jump Start program for trampoline and tumbling.
Vicki Keller: Vicki was a gymnast at Buckeye for many years before returning to us to teach and coach. Vicki brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to the gym where she is a popular teacher in both the Tumble Bears and Gym Stars programs. Vicki also assists with the Buckeye Flyers trampoline and tumbling team.
Maggie Kusakova: Maggie comes to Buckeye by way of the Czech Republic. Maggie trained and competed in the Czech Republic for many years advancing to a 3rd place all-around finish at the Regional Level. She comes to the USA looking to complete her graduate work in Education. Maggie plans to be a physical education teacher one day. Maggie’s love for gymnastics and her students have made her a very popular and much requested teacher at Buckeye.
Li Li: Li Li is one of the most popular and decorated gymnasts China has ever produced. She competed in the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona and in two world championships. She also coached Huang Mandan who earned a bronze medal on Uneven Bars at the 1999 World Championships. Li Li has been coaching at Buckeye for about three years and she has already had a huge impact sending several girls to National Team Training Camps, placing many girls on National TOPs and HOPEs teams, and getting our athletes qualified for J.O. Nationals.
Abby Matter: Abby is a graduate of Kent State University, where she received a degree in Organizational Communication. Abby was a member of Chillicothe High School’s 1996 and 1998 Large Varsity Mount National Championship Team. She was a former Kent State University Cheerleader, where she competed at the collegiate level. Abby has also been a member of the OASSA (Cheer Ohio) and has been able to teach cheerleading skills to all ages. Abby has recently taken on the position of Powell Gym Manager at Buckeye Gymnastics so she will be on-site and plugged in on a daily basis.
Jim Mattox: Jim has been involved in gymnastics since he was six years old participating in gymnastics, sports acrobatics, and spring board diving through the YMCA, various Rec Programs, in high school and at Ohio State. While attending OSU, where he earned a BS in business administration, he worked with the Ohio State men’s Gymnastics Team teaching gymnastics through the National Youth Sports Program. Since graduation Jim has taught gymnastics and martial arts to all ages and abilities in central Ohio. He is certified in CPR, First Aid, Coaching and Safety. Jim has been a very popular teacher at Buckeye for many years.
Erin McCoy: Erin cheered in high school where she was captain of both her JV and Varsity squads as they traveled to and competed in many regional and state competitions. Erin went on to cheer at Columbus State and has coached high school cheer for 3 years and All Star teams for 4 years. Erin is both CPR and First Aid certified in addition to her NFHS certification. Erin coaches at BCE and works at MedVet in Worthington.
Michelle McNabb: Michelle was a Buckeye gymnast and team member for many years and was strong contributor on many State Champion Teams at Buckeye. Michelle has been a strong teacher for Buckeye for many years as her schedule allows.
Kathy Miller: Kathy has been involved in teaching dance and gymnastics for over 30 years and has been teaching at Buckeye for fourteen. She owned her own dance studio for 6 years and was a member of Dance Masters of Ohio. She is Safety, First Aid, and Infant CPR certified. Kathy enjoys a national reputation for the innovative programs that she has developed at Buckeye Gymnastics where she was the preschool director for many years.
Shawn Miller: Shawn holds a BS and a MA in Technology Education from Ohio State University where he cheered from 1991-1996. During this time he appeared along with the rest of the OSU squad in the Holiday and Citrus Bowls and the opening ceremonies of the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. Shawn also worked at Ohio State as a Junior Varsity Volunteer Coach and as the Assistant Head Coach. Shawn has coached cheerleading and gymnastics in both private clubs and at summer camps for many years. Shawn was also competitive gymnast though the advanced levels. He teaches Technology Education at Bellefontaine High School.
Justin Oldham: Justin graduated from Ohio University where he was a cheerleader for four years, and was a member of the 2001 nationals team that placed 10th at NCA nationals. He has been coaching for seven years, teaching for eight, and is currently in his fifth year coaching at BCE. His teams have won several National titles with various companies such as Jamfest, COA, and Cheerpower. He has also worked with several high schools and middle schools in the Columbus area and has judged for various competitions. Justin is NFHS certified, and both First Aid and CPR certified.
Brooke Riesenbeck: Brooke is the guiding force and originator of the Powell Cheer Stars. The whole thing was her idea and she has been the creative and guiding force behind the Cheer Stars for the past three years. She's so good at teaching and coaching gymnastics and cheerleading because she has been involved in the sport her entire life. Her mother owned a gymnastics school and Brooke grew up in the gym. She competed in gymnastics until high school when she switched to cheerleading. As a cheerleader Brooke won two national cheer titles. Brook is a graduate of The Ohio State University where she majored in Elementary Education. She is Safety, Coaching and CPR certified.
Melanie Schmidt: Melanie has taught and coached with Buckeye for several years in the Cheer Stars, Tumble Bears and Buckeye Cheer Elite programs. She is a very popular teacher.
David Steigerwald: David is the head coach for the Buckeye Flyers. He is a graduate of Aurora High School and Columbus College of Art and Design. David has bounced at a National and International level for several years. David started at Buckeye teaching our tumbling and trampoline classes but he was so enthusiastic about the sport that he soon had us thinking about starting a competitive team for tumbling, trampoline, and double mini-trampoline. The Buckeye Flyers have developed quickly to be a power in the State and Region. Buckeye Flyers have won scores of State and Regional titles and boast five National Champions.
Philip Todorov: Phillip is one of the most accomplished gymnastics coaches in the world. He was the head coach for the Bulgaria National team during most of the 1980’s when Bulgaria was a gymnastics powerhouse. He has coached at the Olympic Games, the World Championships, the European Championships and other top international competitions where his gymnasts have won gold, silver, and bronze medals. Phillip was a top international competitor himself winning a silver medal at the World Championships in Sports Acrobatics with his twin brother Mathew. Phillip has coached at Buckeye since 1990 and he recently became a U.S. citizen.
Luke Wasson: Luke grew up in Amherst, New York where he trained for ten years at the Greater Buffalo Gymnastics Center where he qualified for Nationals as a Class I (level 10) competitor. Luke has been teaching and coaching gymnastics for nine years first in Buffalo and later at Stars Gymnastics in Dayton. While at Stars one of his athletes won the All Around at Level 9 Nationals and he has developed numerous state and regional champions at levels 7 and 8. He has coached extensively at the premier summer camps including International, Lake Owen, and Flip-Fest. Luke sees his greatest strengths in his spotting ability and in his positive and motivating approach to his athletes.
Mike Young: Mike was a cheerleader at the University of Kentucky and the University of Tennessee while earning his degree in Graphic Design and Psychology. He coached for Cheers Inc. (now known as Kentucky Elite), the KGTC Sharks (now known as Premier Sharks) and Premier Dolphins in LaFollette, TN, before starting Buckeye Cheer Elite in 2000. Mike is First-Aid and CPR certified, AACCA certified (American Association of Cheerleading Coaches and Advisors) and USASF certified (United States All Star Federation). He was a founding member of NACCC (National All Star Cheerleading Coaches Congress). His teams have won top honors at the senior level 5 division in various national championships while participating in the top cheer competitions available. He has also coached and developed dozens of college cheerleaders for the Big Ten Conference, other big name conferences, and for many smaller schools as well.