But the nine members of the California Sports Center gymnastics team weren't looking at the Farmer's Almanac when they were planning their May 6­9 trip to the Southern California city. They could care less about the weather—all they're concerned about is the national championships.

All nine local gymnasts—ranging from Class 1 to Class 3—earned national berths by finishing strong in Region 1 competition held locally on April 2.

"They were all trying to qualify for the national championships, and they all made it," said Dave Peterson, director of the California Sports Center. "It was fantastic. Overall it was just a great event for the team and coaches."

"This is the largest contingency of boys to ever have qualified to the nationals at one time in the 15-year history of the California Sports Center and in the history of youth gymnastics in San Jose," added Peterson. "And this is one of the largest team of boys qualifying to the nationals from our five-state region."

Class 1 competitors Sam Quicke (a 2003 graduate of Saratoga High School) and Marc Dottson (an '03 Santa Teresa grad); Class 2 athletes Danny Gram (Santa Clara High sophomore), Matthew Holmes (Harker Academy sophomore) and Jacob Goldstein (Leigh sophomore); and Class 3 competitors Josh Dixon (Willow Glen freshman), Jeremy Johnson (Santa Cruz eighth grader), Tyler Evans (San Jose eighth grader) and Andrew Stanton (San Jose eighth grader) have all qualified for the nationals.

Dixon won the Class 3 regional championship and is currently the top-ranked Class 3 gymnast in the nation. Dixon, who has been named to the Region 1 all-star team, finished first in the floor exercise at 9.65, first in the vault at 8.7, first on the high bar at 9.25, third on the parallel bars at 8.8 and seventh on the pommel horse at 8.65.

Gram, an alternate on the Region 1 all-star team, finished seventh overall in Class 2. He was third on the rings at 7.75, fourth in floor exercise at 8.875, fifth in the vault at 8.4 and fifth on the parallel bars at 7.9.

Quicke starred on the high bar at the regionals, finishing fourth at 8.25 "with a great routine," said Peterson.

"These three gymnasts were an outstanding representation of California Sports Center gymnasts present, past and future," said Peterson. "We look forward to many more successes from these gymnasts."

The California Sports Center head coach is Jinjing Zhang and his assistant coaches are Steve Babcock and Christopher Brown.