Missoula will host the major Western USA Level IX Girls Gymnastics Championships in April of 2016.

Kelley Durbin-Williams, founder of Mismo Gymnastics said at a press conference at the Double Tree on Tuesday, that the event is one of the most prestigious in the nation.

"Mismo Gymnastics, in partnership with the Adams Center at the University of Montana, and with help from the Tourism and Business Improvement District and the Sports Commission, are thrilled to be bringing the USA Gymnastics Western Championships to Missoula, Montana," Durbin-Willims said.

Durbin-Williams stressed the prestige of hosting this particular gymnastics event in Missoula,

"There are only 10 levels of gymnastics, 10 being the highest, and nine being the second highest," she said. "There are only two meets, Easterns and Westerns, and we are hosting Westerns. 23 states will be represented, and that's the western half of the United States, from Missouri down to Texas, Alaska to Hawaii and everything in between."

Durbin-Williams emphasized the fact that Missoula was once a hotbed of gymnastics at every level.

"We used to have a team at the University, the high schools used to have teams up until he 1980's," she said. "Terry and Marsha Hamilton, who still teach at Hellgate Elementary founded Bitterroot Gymnastics over 40 years ago, so there is a strong history of gymnastics in our state."

Durbin-Williams said there are hundreds of private gymnastics clubs all over the western United States, like Mismo Gymnastics, that will be competing for the opportunity to attend the championships in Missoula.

"It will be like watching a major football or basketball playoff series, with the finest young female gymnasts in the country competing right here in Missoula," she said.

The meet will be held at the Adams Center on the University of Montana Campus from April 25 through May 1, 2016.

 

 

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