December 7, 2005

GAGE Sends Four to College
Four Gymnasts at Blue Springs Facility Sign with Division I Teams

By Bill Althaus
The Examiner

The Great American Gymnastic Express was a beehive of activity, with dozens of little pixies in multi-colored leotards doing cartwheels, handstands and tumbling routines. In the middle of all the mayhem Tuesday night was a folding table, where gymnasts Courtney McCool, Elizabeth Straatmann, Kayla Rogers and Sarah Shire signed national college letters of intent.

Well, they didn't actually sign the letters they did that quite a while ago. They were doodling, writing notes to each other and having a good time as the television cameras rolled.

"They deserve this moment," said their coach Armine Barutyan-Fong, who along with her husband Al Fong, has coached the girls during their respective stays at GAGE. "We had three sign letters last year, and this year we're up to four. This is as special for Al and me and as it for the girls and their families. They have worked so very hard they deserve this recognition."

McCool, a member of the silver-medal winning U.S. women's Olympic team in 2004, will attend the University of Georgia.

Straatmann will attend Louisiana State University, Shire will attend the University of Utah and Rogers will travel down Interstate-70 to the University of Missouri.

"This was always my goal at GAGE," said Rogers, who attends Liberty High School and has been training at GAGE for three years. "I needed a push to get that college scholarship and I got it here. I owe Al and Armine so much."

Shire, who attends O'Hara High School, has trained at GAGE for five years.

"Tonight just feels so special," Shire said. "To be here with three of my teammates, who I love and respect so much, and to know that we are all going to college because of gymnastics is just a great feeling.

"I've always been a huge Missouri fan but once I visited Utah I knew that was where I wanted to go. It's so beautiful there and I just fell in love with campus, the coaches and the girls on the team."

LSU was also love at first sight for Straatmann, who attends O'Hara High School and has been at GAGE for three years.

"This is like a dream come true," Straatmann. "It's a big relief for me and my parents. I came here to train to get a college scholarship, and now all that hard work has paid off."

While GAGE's Olympian is excited about attending the University of Georgia, it was not love at first sight.

"It couldn't be," McCool, who attends Lee's Summit North High School, said, "because I haven't visited the campus.

"Does that sound crazy? The coaches came to Lee's Summit to meet me and I really felt comfortable with them and liked them a lot. But it's funny when I was looking at schools, my mom told me I could go anywhere.

"She didn't care if it was far away or close, she just wanted me to be happy. But now that I'm going so far away, she tells me, 'You're really going to miss me.' I bet there are some tears when I leave, but I'm happy with the decision."