LOCAL

HIGH-FLYING HISTORY: Gymnastics club celebrated 55th anniversary with pomp and excellence

Mike Tupa
Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise

Lyndon Johnson slept in the White House; no Super Bowls had yet been held; the top three shows on TV were “Bonanza”, “The Red Skelton Hour”, and “The Andy Griffith Show”; Barrack Obama was kindergarten age and Donald Trump had just turned 20 years old.

The year was 1966.

Among all the other happenings during the year, a new tradition took root in Bartlesville that would blossom into an ongoing harvest of athleticism until the current day.

That was the year the Phillips 66 Gymnastics Club sprang to life, as an outgrowth of Bartlesville having hosted the ABC-televised AAU Gymnastics Championships, which determined the U.S. representatives at the 1966 World Games.

Phillips 66 had won the bid to sponsor and host the U.S. AAU championships at the Adams Building Gymnasium.

After the national meet ended, Phillips 66 put the equipment purchased for the event to start up the Phillips 66 Gymnastics Club for local boys and girls.

Fifty-five years later, the club is still developing exceptional girls’ gymnasts for USA Gymnastics or AAU competition. The name has changed to the Bartlesville Gymnastics Club, but the purpose and development of young athletes, as well as the roots and connection with Phillips 66, still stand.

In conjunction with the club’s longevity is its annual invitational, which has grown into a major early-season competition for team from multiple states.

This year’s invitational — held earlier this month — attracted more than 400 competitors from three states.

Margaret Parrett, a competitor on the 1966 club, gave a speech following the march-in ceremony.

Parrett went on to compete in college — as numerous gymnastics club members have since.

She praised the life lessons she garnered from being part of the gymnastics club.

Following the opening ceremony, the hundreds of girls battled during the weekend to do their best on the four events — the vault, uneven bars, balance beam and floor exercise.

“It was such a satisfying weekend,” said Bartlesville Gymnastics Club Director Lorrie Bertolet, who also was a club member in the early years. “Celebrating 55 years of our gymnastics club was so inspiring. Bartlesville Gymnastics has such an amazing history. … To have been a part of the club for so many years (10 as an athlete, 37 as a coach/director), this club is a part of my soul and I am so thankful for all the opportunities I have been given. I continue to look forward to the future of our club.”

An article has already appeared on this year’s competition and club results.

But, there was one highlight not already mentioned.

Level 10 battler Madelyn Stuart performed two ‘E’ skills — a double-twisting lay-out on the floor exercise and a lay-out double flip off the bars.

She also performed a new skill, a front flip on the balance beam.

“I could not be more proud of this girl,” Bertolet said. “Her dedication to this sport helps keep me passionate about this sports. …Even on the hard days she keeps plugging away.”

Bartlesville’s Level 10 team leader Kylee Greene won the All-Around gold.

Mallory Stephen, Raynie Ketcher and Isa Highfield also competed at Level 10, bolstering Bartlesville to one of its deepest groups at this level in several years.