Hicksville resident Melanie Tlach, 11, a gymnast from Mid Island Gymnastics, recently won first place in her age group at the Level 8, 2002 New York State Championships held in April in Vestal, NY.

Melanie placed first on vault with a 9.6; second on bars with 9.275; fifth on beam with 9.l45; and fifth on floor with 9.45. Those scores enabled her to achieve an All-Around average of 37.75 and she was therefore afforded the opportunity to be the first on the New York State Regional Team in the 8- to 12-year-old age group. The Level 8 Team came home with the fifth place banner.

In May, the best of the best in New York, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont competed in the 2002 Level 8 Regional Competition in Milford, CT. While experiencing one of her most exciting competitions, Melanie placed fifth in the region, scoring 9.175 on vault for ninth place; 9.175 on bars for second place; 9.425 on beam for second place; and 9.15 on floor for eighth place. Her All Around score was 36.925.

Melanie's scores, along with the scores from the other members of the team, contributed to New York coming home with first place out of all seven states in the competition's Junior Division. The Senior Division also came in first place.

Melanie has been training at Mid Island Gymnastics for approximately eight years. For the last two years, Jen Trovato and Viktor Safronov have been her coaches. Other coaches who have contributed to Melanie's success include Gayle Biegel and Volodymir Safronov. Without their expertise, Melanie would not have been able to come the Level 8, 2002 NYS All Around Champion. A special thank you goes out to Joel Schaffer for having such great coaches.