Briley Estée Casanova was born in Dallas, Texas, on November 17, 1994. She was the first child born to Bev and Zelda Casanova. Her younger brother, Cole, is also a competitive gymnast. She began gymnastics at the age of 18 months at The Little Gym. In Late 2000, Briley joined WOGA at the age of six. Currently, Briley is a junior international elite gymnast coached by Laurent and Cecile Landi.

In 2002, Briley competed as a level five. She finished ninth all-around at the District Championships. In 2003, she finished third all-around at the District Championships. She competed as a level six in 2004. She finished fourth on floor at the WOGA Classic. She won a silver medal in the all-around at the District Championships. Briley won the all-around title at North State. She also won the all-around title at States. In addition to her all-around gold, she won bars and beam. She moved up to level seven in 2005. She won the all-around title at the Excalibur Cup. She also finished first on vault, bars and beam. She advanced to level eight in 2006. At the Gymnastics in Paradise meet in Hawaii, Briley won vault, bars and the all-around title. She finished second on vault at the Universal Invitational. At States, Briley won a bronze medal on vault. She ended her season at Regionals. She placed first on bars and second on vault.

Briley began competing as a level nine in 2007. At the Maryland Classic, she finished third all-around. She finished first on bars and third on floor in event finals. At the WOGA Classic, Briley finished fourth all-around. She won bronze medals on bars and beam. She finished third on vault and fourth all-around at the AOGC Invitational. At the Rose City Classic, Briley finished second on vault. At the Riverwalk meet, she won the all-around title! She also won vault, bars and beam. At States, Briley won the all-around title! She also won bars and vault. She won bars at Regionals. She finished sixth all-around. Her last meet of the season was Westerns. She finished second on bars and seventh on vault. She placed in the top fifteen in the all-around!

She moved up to level ten in 2008. She finished third on vault at the WOGA Classic. She won bars at the Metroplex Challenge. At the AOGC Invitational, she finished second on bars and third all-around. Briley won beam at the Texas Prime Meet. Briley then went on to Regionals where she placed first in the all-around and on every event excluding beam. After this meet, is when Briley decided an elite path maybe a right choice for her. She competed in an elite qualifier and earned herself a trip to her first US Nationals! At the US Classic (a warm-up meet for nationals) Briley did well, placing 8th in the all-around and fourth on floor. At Nationals, Briley really shined and earned herself the very last spot on the US National Team! This performance opened up a lot of opportunities, including competing in the Massila Cup, with many of her WOGA teammates. She snagged her first gold international medal on vault and earned a 4th place finish in the all-around. Before Briley left for France, she had the honor of performing her floor routine in the Dallas Stop of the Tour of Gymnastics Superstars.

In 2009, Briley started the season by finishing third on floor at the Metroplex Challenge. She won floor at the WOGA Classic. At the Houston National Meet, she won floor. Briley finished eighth all-around at the American Classic. She also competed at the US Classic. At the US National Championships, she finished eighth all-around, making her second US National Team. She was picked to compete at the International Junior meet in Japan. She won a bronze medal in the all-around. In November, Briley had surgery on her wrist. She had ankle surgery in January. Briley hopes to compete in the summer elite season.

Fast Facts Name: Briley Casanova Birthday: November 17, 1994 Club: WOGA Level: Sr. Int'l Elite Official Website WOGA

MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS Full Scholarship to Michigan 2008, 09: US National Team Member 2007: Level 9 Westerns- 13th AA, 2nd UB 2007: Level 9 Regionals- 2nd UB 2007: Level 9 States- 1st AA, VT, UB 2006: Level 8 Regionals- 1st UB, 2nd VT

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Photos © Ruth Judson, WOGA