|
When Sophina was six years old, she was bouncing off the walls, so her parents put her into gymnastics. Her coaches wanted her to go in a fast track program right away but Sophina did not really want that, so she did gymnastics part time in each level. While she did gymnastics part time, she explored other things, such as basketball, soccer, baseball, acting and dance. Sophina began dancing when she was seven with Tabitha and Napoleon.
Sophina competed in Team Gymnastics for Fallbrook Gymnastics in 2003. She then moved to SCEGA after 2003 season. In 2004, Sophina competed as a level seven. She finished second on balance beam at the San Diego Classic. She won the all-around, uneven bars and balance beam titles and finished second on floor floor exercise at the California Classic. At the Desert Devils Classic, she finished first on floor exercise and second in the all-around.
In 2005, Sophina won the all-around title in every meet she competed. At Sophina's first meet of the year, the WOGA Classic, she won floor exercise and finished third on vault and uneven bars. She won the all-around at the Surf City Classic, San Diego Classic, Golden State Friendship Challenge and California Classic. Her final two meets of the season were Level 8 States and Level 8 Regionals. At the Level 8 States, she swept the gold medals! She then won every event except for uneven bars at the Level 8 Regionals.
In August of 2005, Sophina and her dance group, Mix 5 competed at the Hip Hop International Championships. They won the junior competition! After the competition, they have been appeared on seveal TV shows, such as the Ellen Show, Soapnet, Maury Povich, and Tom Joyner Show. Napoleon and Tabitha told Sophina that she should dance professionaly, but she only want to do it part-time. No dance studio would take her part-time, so her mom opened her own dance studio, called The Vibe in Temecula. That same year, Sophina did go gurt girl commerical on Nickoloen for over a year.
Sophina moved up to level nine in 2006. She did not compete in the all-around at the Crystal Cup or San Diego Classic. She won balance beam and floor at the San Diego Classic. Sophina finished fourth in the all-around at the Hard Rock Invitational. She won the all-around at the Golden State Friendship Challenge, California Classic and the Long Beach Open. At the Level 9 States, she finished third on vault and second on floor exercise. Her next meet was Level 9 Regionals, where she finished third in the all-around. She won floor exercise title and finished second on balance beam. There, she qualified to Level 9 Westerns, where she finished second on balance beam and fourth in the all-around! After her 2006 season, Sophina decided to take a small break from gymnastics to focus on dance and acting.
In the end of July, Sophina was part of a dance group, Vibe Diamonds 'N Ruff, who was involved in the World Hip Hop International. They finished 6th place overall. Sophina also was on a TV Show, Hip Hop Harry several times that year. Sophian was picked to be on Debbie Allen's The Bayou Legend. Sophina was "Vivian" and "Troll Maidens." She got to be in the broadway show with Loretta Devine and Tisha Campbell-Martin! Debbie Allen offered Sophina and her sister a full ride scholarship to her studio. Sophina, however, wanted to give gymnastics another try.
In 2007, she returned to gymnastics at Precision as a level ten and junior pre-elite. After a short period at Precision, Sophina won the level ten state all-around title. Sophina then qualified to junior pre-elite in the late spring. At the US Challenge in Michigan, she finished second overall and won balance beam in the junior pre-elite divison.
Sophina began her 2008 season at Heart of a Champion Invitational, where she easily won the competition. A few weeks later, she travled to Pennsylavia to re-qualify for elite. She finished first on the compulsory and finished second on optionals. In May in Texas, she finished 11th overall and qualified to her first Junior VISA Championships! She used US Classic as a warm-up competition. She finished 17th in the all-around and 5th on balance beam. At the VISA Championships in Boston, she finished 14th in the all-around, 9th on balance beam, and 11th on uneven bars & floor exercise. After the 2008 season, Sophina moved to her previous gym, SCEGA.
In 2009, Sophina began her season at the Lady Luck Invitational in Las Vegas. There, she finished sixth in the all-around and third on floor exercise. At the American Classic, she placed fifth in the all-around, third on uneven bars and fourth on floor exercise. Sophina then traveled to Des Moines, Iowa for the US Covergirl Classic, where she placed 27th overall and 15th on uneven bars. A few weeks later, Sophina competed at the VISA Championships in Dallas, Texas. On the first day of the meet, she placed 16th overall and fifth on balance beam. During the second day, Sophina finished impressive ninth in the all-around and fourth on balance beam, landing a spot on the Junior National Team! Right after the VISA Championships, Sophina was selected to represent the USA team at the Junior Japan International in September. In Japan, Sophina finished fourth in the all-around and first on floor exercise with a 14.300.
Sophina started her 2010 season at the SCEGA's California Classic, where she won gold medals on uneven bars and balance beam. In July, Sophina traveled to Chicago, Illinois for the US Covergirl Classic and only competed on two events. Unfortunately, Sophina was unable to compete at the VISA Championships due to an injury.
Currently, Sophina is training at SCEGA under coaches Kathy Strate, Luis Garcia and Merideth Paulicivic. She is preparing for upcoming 2011 season, where she hopes to have a successful season as a senior international elite gymnast. Even though Sophina is taking a break from dance and acting to pursue gymnastics career, she hopes to return dance and acting in the future.
Sophina Saade DeJesus was born on October 6, 1994 in San Jose, California. She currently lives in Temecula, California with her parents, Maria and Geraldo, a sister, Savannah and a brother, Izaia. Sophina is a junior at Temecula valley High School. Outside of gymnastics, dance and acting world, Sophina likes to do many outdoor activies, such as ice skating, skiing, etc. She loves to dance as well. She choreographed high school dance routine for Junior Varisty and Varisty teams.
Back Home // Sign the Guestbook
Copyright © 2009+ The DeJesus Family, Gym-Style.Com and GymnGina.Us
|