The Airborne Gymnastics Level 8 team competed at the 2005 Northern California Level 8 Team State competition in April at San José State University and walked away with not only the state title, but with all 11 girls on the squad qualifying for regional competition.

The team is led by coaches Allan and Ericka Fusilero at the Airborne's training location in Santa Clara, where the girls meet five days a week to train in all events.

Of the nine age divisions in the state tournament, Airborne competed in six and were able to come away with two all-around champions and five titles in individual events. Airborne also won the overall Norcal Level 8 Team championship.

Mimi La and Gina Costa finished one-two in the all-around in the junior "A" division. La took first place with a score of 37.725 and Costa was just behind at 37.375.

La has been putting up good numbers for the team all year long and her scores of 9.625 in the floor exercise and 9.525 on the balance beam were good enough to earn her state titles in both events. La was also selected to the state team.

It was Costa's first season this year with Airborne and she was a large part of their success. Costa scored 9.625 on the floor and 9.525 on the beam, good for two seconds. She was selected as an alternate for the state team.

La and Costa didn't fare quite as well at the regionals with La placing second on the floor and Costa finishing eighth in the all-around.

Carly Pipkin was successful in the junior "B" division on the uneven bars, taking home the title with a score of 9.5. She also finished third in the al-around at 37.05. Pipkin also took the regional floor title in Long Beach with a 9.5 as well as finishing second on the bars at 9.4.

The junior "C" division had Noelle Schulenburg representing Airborne. She won the all-around title with a score of 37.5 and placed second on the floor at 9.55, second on the uneven bars at 9.45 and third on the beam at 9.15. She continued on to the regionals where she placed second in the all-around. Schulenburg was also chosen to the state team along with La.

The most Airborne competitors were in the junior "D" division. Camisha Casimere, Kristin Ackerman and Stephanie Kelly all competed with and against each other for the titles.

Kelly and Casimere tied for third on the floor at 9.425, while Casimere also finished second on the beam at 9.25. Kelly finished second in the all-around with a personal best 37.2. Kelly also placed third on the bars at 9.25, third on the beam at 9.3 and fourth in the vault at 9.225. Ackerman finished sixth in both the floor and the vault in the state competition after recovering from an ankle injury.

Ariel Hammer won both the state and regional titles in the floor exercise with scores of 9.475 and 9.6. She also finished sixth in the all-around in both events.

Allie Butters was fifth and Ellen Belinsky sixth in the senior "B" group. Belinsky won the state vault at 9.4 and placed second on the floor at 9.575. She finished third in the vault at the regionals with a 9.5 and third in the all-around with a 37.2. Butters finished third in both vault and floor at the state meet before going on to win the regional vault title with a 9.75. Butters was able to take second on the beam at 9.25 and third in the all-around at 37.425 at the regionals.

Jenna Yee, who recently recovered from knee surgery, was back competing at state and came away with a fifth-place all-around finish with 36.6 points at state. She was also second in the vault at 9.225 and fourth in the all-around at regionals at 36.475.