Greensboro trampoline athlete to compete in Bulgaria

Greensboro trampoline athlete to compete in Bulgaria

McKenzie Petrich, a member of Greensboro’s Ultimate Air Trampoline and Tumbling (T&T) competitive team, has been invited to join Team USA Nov. 20-27 at the International Gymnastics Federation’s World Age Competition in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Petrich is a 2022 magna cum laude graduate of Guilford Technical Community College’s Middle College program, where she earned both an associate degree and her high school diploma as a North Carolina Academic Scholar. Currently, she is a student at the University of North Carolina Charlotte in the William States Lee College of Engineering.

T&T is a version of gymnastics consisting of four events: trampoline, synchronized trampoline, tumbling and double-mini. Of the four, trampoline is the only Olympic event, but all four events are included in the World Championships. In Bulgaria, Petrich will compete in the synchronized trampoline and individual trampoline events.

She has completed additional training in Michigan as well as being invited to attend USA Gymnastics’ Elite Training Camp. Since 2019, she has coached younger athletes who train at the Greensboro facility.

Petrich, who began T&T at the age of 4, has competed at USA Gymnastics events since 2011. In 2017, she began competing in the Junior Elite division. She has attended Nationals each year since 2011, making the finals in 2019, 2021, and 2022. Below are some of Petrich’s career milestones:

• 2011 – National champion in trampoline
• 2012 – Medaled at Nationals
• 2016 – Nationals: She and her partner earned second place in synchronized trampoline
• 2012- 2021 – State Champion in trampoline; 2nd place in 2022
• 2022 – Nationals: She and her partner took first place and the gold medal in synchronized trampoline. In addition, Petrich came in first and took home gold in double-mini, and she earned the silver medal in individual trampoline.

The Ultimate Air T&T team is part of the Ultimate Kids gym, home to Tumblebees Gymnastics. The facility, located on Downwind Road, has been open since 1986 and has expanded over time to include a recreational gymnastics gym, an educational preschool, dance studio, rock climbing gym, ninja gym, and a team training gym.

Courtesy of Heather Pflug