The La Luna Rhythmic team worked on routines with Olympic rhythmic gymnast Samira Amirova (center).

LAHAINA – Olympic rhythmic gymnast Samira Amirova of Uzbekistan just spent a week in Lahaina with local gymnasts helping to choreograph routines for the upcoming competitive season that begins in January 2019.

She visited in September 2017 and made a solid connection with the La Luna Rhythmic team, so they invited her back to help the girls prepare for the new season.

USA Gymnastics recently announced that it wants more rhythmic gymnasts to compete in group competition. Lahaina girls will form two groups. Devyn Gruber, Grace Devane, Noelani Ligienza and Sofia Mallari will be members of the Intermediate Group, and Emi Burman, Marley Hooper and Anella Pitts will be a trio entered into the Beginner Group.

Amirova was part of the Uzbekistan Rhythmic Team that competed in the group competition in the 2016 Olympics.

Group competition in rhythmics involves a combination of intricate encounters, with girls exchanging their apparatus and incorporating interesting formations and collaborations.

Samira’s expertise and creativity were greatly received by the girls, who now have “world-class” routines.

Kid Zone Maui announced its 2019 new team members: Level 7 – Grace Devene, Devyn Gruber and Noelani Ligienza; Level 6 – Marley Hooper, Sophia Mallari and Emi Burman; Level 5 – Jaimie Cashman, Anella Pitts, Isabel Meadows, Sophia Meadows and Ava McDonald; and Level 4 – Mia Bornios, Camila Pineda-Rodriguez, Alana Peck, Lola Luckey, Bianca Mcdonald and Anette Kohlhepp.

Teela Biehn will be entering the Excel competition and competing at C Level. The Level 3 Team is still in the selection process.

Jaimie Cashman, who received the Good Work Award for last season, is off to a hardworking start for the coming season as a Level 5 competitor.