Melissa Metcalf was born on February 22, 1996. Just three short years later, she began gymnastics. She trains at Desert Devils in Arizona. She has a sister, Sheridan, who is a level ten gymnast.
In 2003, Melissa competed as a level four. She finished fifteenth at the Desert Devils Classic. She also placed in the top fifteen at the Sweetheart Invitational and Shamrock Invitational. She moved up to level five for the fall season. She won beam, floor and the all-around title at the PGA Halloween Invite. At the State Championships, Melissa finished first on floor and third on vault!
By 2006, Melissa was competing as a level ten. She finished fourth on bars at the Flips USA Invitational. She placed in the top twenty at the Hard Rock Invitational. At States, Melissa won vault. She finished third in the all-around. Her next meet was Regionals. At Regionals, Melissa finished seventh. She claimed the last spot to JO Nationals. Melissa had a great meet at JO Nationals. She finished in the top twenty all-around!
She continued competing as a level ten in 2007. She competed on two events at the beginning on the season. She won a silver medal on beam at the Fiesta Bowl Invitational. At States, Melissa won beam. She finished fifth all-around. At Regionals, Melissa again placed seventh all-around. At JO Nationals, Melissa really shined. She finished second on bars. In the all-around, she was fourth! Melissa qualified to the JO National Team!
2008 was Melissa’s best year yet. Melissa finished second all-around at the Crystal Cup in 2008. She won beam. At the Fiesta Bowl Invitational, Melissa also won a silver medal in the all-around and a gold on beam. She won vault at the Pikes Peak Cup. Melissa finished third all-around at the Golden State Classic. She was able to win the bars, beam, floor and all-around titles at states! She then decided to test elite and the Texas Dreams elite qualifier. She placed 8th and went on to the US Nationals where she placed 20th all-around and tied for 9th on bars.
Melissa struggled with injuries during the 2009 season. At the Lady Luck Invitational, she only competed on floor. She finished second. She competed on beam and floor at the Fiesta Bowl Invitational. She won beam and finished second on floor. She did the same two events at the Hard Rock Invitational duplicating her results from the Fiesta Bowl. At the Great West Gymfest she qualified for balance beam event finals where she finished second. At the Level 10 State Championships she won floor and third on beam. Melissa will take the rest of the season to heal and return to the elite scene in 2010.
Photos © Dinah Gordy, Gym-Nerd.Com, Heather Maynez
