The tumbling team from Apex Tumbling and Cheer gymnastics center in Pilot Point took center stage again this year with another all-around remarkable performance at the 2026 USA Gymnastics Trampoline & Tumbling Star & Stripes Championships on July 10-12.
Apex was represented by five competitors at the Sevierville Convention Center in Sevierville, Tennessee, where they battled over 800 athletes from across the country and returned home with three medals.
“As a coach, my requirements for athletes at any competition are always for our goal to be hitting routines in competition as well as they do in practice,” said Tyler Terrell, Apex owner and head coach. “If they do that successfully, it’s a win in my book, regardless of how we place, and that’s what we did this year.”
Harley Piper, who competed in the 15+ age group, was Apex’s top performer this year, earning medals in the girls level 5 trampoline and double mini trampoline events.
Piper finished third in the trampoline with a score of 15.27 and fourth in the double mini trampoline with a combined score of 37.47.
This year’s competition marked Piper’s fourth time competing at the Stars & Stripes event, and the Decatur resident said she’s already looking forward to next year.
“It felt nice to go back, and I hope next year I can move up to a new level and perform well with a new level of competition,” she said.
Logan Houck, the reigning level 5 national champion in the boys double mini trampoline for the 11–12-year-old age group, placed sixth in the level 6 double mini trampoline this year with a combined score of 37.33.
Houck also tied for 11th place in the level 6 trampoline event with a score of 14.6.
“It was harder, but [the performances] were fun,” he said.
Kennedy Walker of Pilot Point, who competed in the 11–12-year-old age group, also returned to the big stage for the second consecutive year, finishing 40th in the girls level 5 tumbling event with a combined score of 34.06.
Walker also finished 45th in the level 5 double mini trampoline with a 34.27-point total.
“I was so happy and excited to go back, and I wasn’t nervous because I did it last year,” she said. “I was a little down when I got my scores, but I am proud of how hard I worked in the gym this year and going back to Nationals.”
Apex was also well represented by two new faces in Isaac Evans from Little Elm and Zoe Stephenson from Aubrey, who both made their first appearances on the national stage.
Evans placed 11th in the boys level 5 double mini-trampoline event with a score of 18.53 in the 11-12-year-old age group.
“He struggled with a bit of a mental block of flipping backwards in the gym over the past month, which was really unfortunate but not unheard of late in the season, and that was a big challenge,” Terrell said. “He had two routines and hit one really well but was unable to complete the second due to the mental block.”
Despite his struggles, Evans said he enjoyed competing at the event and that he’s looking forward to returning to the competition mat.
“I felt good until I got to the back tuck because I lost it, but I’ve lost my back tuck multiple times, so I’m definitely going to get it back,” he said.
Stephenson placed 15th in the girls level 6 trampoline event with a score of 15.2 in the 11-12-year-old age group.
“Trampoline is the hardest [event] to calm your nerves because the leg shakes affect you the most compared to tumbling or double mini, where you get to run before you start your skill, but [Zoe] did a great job managing her nerves and hit her routine just like she did in practice,” Terrell said.
Stephenson said she also enjoyed competing at the event and offered words of encouragement for anyone else interested in gymnastics.
“If you want to learn [gymnastics], don’t give up, even if it’s hard, and be proud of yourself in whatever you do,” she said.
Terrell echoed Stephenson’s sentiments. “The thing I love about gymnastics is that it can help everybody at whatever they may pursue later,” he said. “Gymnasts are the ultimate generalists, and they can go from here and do anything athletically; so if you have a kid that’s bouncing off the walls and tearing up your couch like I did to my parents back in the day, gymnastics is a great way to work that energy out.”
