Biography
Ella Kate got her start in gymnastics at a young age in a mommy and me class and began competing at the age of seven in 2015 as a level 3 with North East Texas Elite Gymnastics. At her first level 3 meet, Ella Kate took home gold medals on vault, bars, beam, and in the all around. Ella Kate finished her level 3 season at the District 3 Championships where she won the floor title and placed second all around. That same year, Ella Kate made the TOPs National Diamond Team. In 2016, Ella Kate participated in TOPs Testing once again, and made the TOPs National A Team. However, she moved straight into Developmental Invite Camp.
In 2017, Ella Kate competed level 6. She opened up her season at the Brestyan’s Las Vegas Invitational where she placed third all around. Ella went on to compete at the Texas Level 6 State Championships, placing second on beam and third on vault. Ella Kate also attended all three Developmental Invite Camps in 2017 and in 2018, she won first place in physical abilities at the January camp. Ella Kate began her 2018 season at the Chow’s Challenge Elite Compulsory qualifier. While she just missed achieving her compulsory score for Hopes 10-11, Ella Kate came back and earned her compulsory score at the City of Lights Elite Compulsory Qualifier. Ella Kate competed in the optional qualifier at the KPAC Cup where she won the vault title. Ella Kate competed in the final elite qualifier of the year at the Brestyan's Elite Qualifier where she earned her Hopes optional score, qualifying to the Hopes Classic. In early July, Ella Kate competed in the Hopes Classic in Salt Lake City, UT. Ella Kate had a great meet and finished in the top 18, which qualified her to the Hopes Championships at the end of July. At the Hopes Championships, Ella Kate had a solid competition and finished in the top 10 on vault and beam.
Ella Kate kicked off her 2018-2019 season at the Myrtle Beach Elite Compulsory Qualifier. Here, Ella Kate earned her Hopes 10-11 compulsory score. Following the compulsory qualifier, Ella Kate competed one meet of level 9 where she won the beam title and took third all around. One month later, Ella Kate competed at the Buckeye National Elite Qualifier and earned her Hopes 10-11 optional score, qualifying to the Hopes Classic. In June, Ella Kate competed at the Hopes Classic where she had a fantastic meet, winning the beam title and tying for third on floor and in the all around. Ella Kate qualified to the Hopes Championships for the second year in a row. At the Hopes Championships, Ella Kate came home with the floor title.
With the goal to qualify Hopes in 2020, Ella Kate began her season at Myrtle Beach Elite Compulsory Qualifier where she earned her Hopes 12-13 compulsory score by over three points. At the beginning of March, Ella traveled to North Carolina to compete at the KPAC National Elite Qualifier. Ella Kate earned her Hopes 12-13 optional score to qualify to the 2020 Hopes Classic. Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Ella Kate's season was cut short as the remainder of the season was canceled.
Due to the remainder of the 2020 season being canceled, USAG allowed for all Hopes and Elite Qualifiers to retain their qualifying score for the 2021 season. With this, Ella Kate qualified to the 2021 Hopes Classic in the 13-14 division.
Following the 2020 season, Ella Kate began training at Cincinnati Gymnastics Academy. With already qualifying to the Hopes Classic, Ella Kate's goal for the 2021 season was to qualify junior elite. Ella Kate began her season at the Buckeye Classic National Elite Qualifier. While Ella Kate just missed out on her qualifying score, she won all for events and the all around title. One week later at the Brestyan's Las Vegas Invitational, Ella Kate earned her junior elite qualifying score to qualify as a junior elite and to the elite classic competitions for 2021. One week after qualifying junior elite, Ella Kate competed her first junior elite competition at Winter Cup where she had a fantastic competition, coming home with the all around title as well as a silver on beam and making the Junior U.S. National Team. In May at the U.S. Classic, Ella Kate unfortunately had to pull out after injuring her ankle on vault. However, Ella Kate still finished seventh on the event. Ella came back to compete at the U.S. Championships two weeks after the U.S. Classic. Here, Ella Kate concluded her season earning a silver medal on beam as well as medals on bars and in the all around. Ella Kate also earned a continued spot on the Junior U.S. National Team. In addition, Ella Kate's all around scores qualified her to the 2022 classic competitions.
Currently, Ella Kate trains at Cincinnati Gymnastics Academy. In the future, Ella Kate’s goal is to continue to make the US National Team and compete for a division one college gymnastics team.