MOULTRIE — Moultrie YMCA gymnast Alayah Copeland-Lambert placed fifth on vault at the recent USA Regional Level 7 meet held at the Myrtle Beach, S.C., Sports Center.

It was Copeland-Lambert’s first time attending regionals after qualifying at the state meet in April.

In addition, this is her first season as a level 7 gymnast.

Her score on vault was 9.325. Her other scores were 8.6 on bars, 9.15 on beam and a 9.45 on floor.  She finished the meet with an all-around score of 36.525.

“Alayah and I have spent a lot of time working on competing under pressure and a set of goal to place at regionals,” said Coach Dawn Harvell. “We are so happy that she reached her goal.”

More than 600 gymnasts from eight states competed at the meet. Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Louisiana make up the USAG eighth region.

“I was so excited to be out of school for the meet,” Alayah said. “I got to see lots of new gymnastics skills from the other competitors and I loved going to the beach after I competed!”   

Moultrie YMCA Gymnastics Director Pat Murphy called Copeland-Lambert’s performance “a huge accomplishment for our program.”

“No one has achieved this since 2019,” Murphy said, noting that the COVID pandemic played havoc with the competition schedule the last two years.

“We are excited to see the gymnastics program begin to regrow and return to competition beyond our local area. A huge shout out to our coaches for getting our team back into peak competition performance.”