A decade ago, Victoria “Ria” Sessions was a toddler on top of the TV stand, putting fear in her parents, who then put her in gymnastics.
Norway’s Ria Sessions salutes on the podium after earning her fifth consecutive gymnastics state championship title at the March 16 meet in Augusta. Submitted photo
It has proven to be a good choice. For the past half-decade, the Norway native has been standing at the top of the podium at the Maine State gymnastics championship. Sessions won her fifth consecutive Maine State Championships title in March at the state-wide meet in Augusta.
Sessions has also ranked among the Top 100 gymnasts nationwide the past two years.
This season, Sessions won gold in every event she competed in except one, in which she earned silver. She competed against other young athletes across New England, and even traveled to South Carolina for a competition.
Scores range from 0-10 points in the four events — vault, beam, floor and bars. In vault, Sessions earned a 9.15 at the state championship meet. Her coach, Susan Wiemer of Westbrook-based Maine Academy of Gymnastics, said this was on the lower end of Sessions’ typical vault scores, but added that the judging was “less forgiving” than usual, which made competition tougher for every gymnast across the board.
Sessions scored 9.65 points in bars, a 9.725 in beam, and her floor routine received a 9.50. These three scores were on par with her usual marks. She claimed goal in all four events.
This season, Sessions mastered several new skills, a byproduct of repeating the Platinum level instead of progressing to Diamond. Although it was her second year in the same category, Wiemer said Sessions was held to a higher standard by judges for scoring and technical points.
Sessions added a Wolf Turn to this year’s state beam routine, and sticking the landing was her most proud moment at the state meet. Submitted photo
Wiemer said Sessions mastered the “cast handstand on bars,” which involves completing a handstand on the elevated bar. For vault, she accomplished the “half on, half off,” where a gymnast “comes off of the springboard and twists in midair halfway before hitting the vault table with their hands and then twisting a half rotation off of the vault table.”
In her floor routine at the state meet, Sessions had “beautiful leaps and jumps, a B-value front pike, beautiful switch leaps and clean and expressive dance,” according to Wiemer.
Sessions said she was most proud of her ability to execute the “Wolf Turn” on beam — a complicated move shown often in Simone Biles’ routines, though with one less turn in Ria’s routine.
“She’s super strong and flexible, which is hard. It’s tough to get gymnasts that have both good flexibility and good strength,” Wiemer said. “Usually, gymnasts will favor one in abundance over the other.”
The 13-year-old Oxford Hills Middle School student has been a gymnast since she was 3 years old. She started gymnastics at Oxford Hills Gymnastics in Mechanic Falls, which has since closed, and made her first team as a at the bronze level. She transferred to Maine Academy of Gymnastics and has been coached by Wiemer for the past four seasons.
Her father, Brian Sessions, said he and Ria’s mother, Gracia Casia, knew Ria was destined to be a gymnast from a young age, when she was constantly caught climbing furniture around their house.
Sessions also perfected the hand stand press down on beam, which was a skill she learned as a repeat Platinum XCEL team member. Submitted photo
“That’s why I put her in gymnastics, she used to crawl on top of everything,” Brian Sessions said. “She was on top of the TV stand one day — I was off (from work), so I was watching her — and she was 3 years old screaming, ‘Papa, Papa,’ and scaring me every time I turned around.
“I said to my wife, ‘We’ve got to put her in gymnastics, we’ve got to teach her how to do stuff before she hurts herself.’”
Now, Ria has just completed her second season as a Platinum XCEL gymnast.
Wiemer has coached at Maine Academy of Gymnastics for over 20 years and has over the past four seasons has coached Sessions through Bronze, Silver, Gold and two Platinum team seasons.
“She works very hard, takes her sport very seriously and is very committed,” Weissman said. “Sometimes, she’s pretty hard on herself, but she’s supportive of her teammates, which is important.”
“This year,” Sessions said, “we made a pact to each other that we’d cheer for each other for whatever. And we always say that we have to be the loudest in the gym for each other and support each other no matter what happens.”
Maine Academy of Gymnastics has two branches of competition teams — the Women’s Development Team (formerly known as Junior Olympics track) and the XCEL team. The XCEL team is just as competitive as the Junior Olympics route, but is open to gymnasts who got a later start in the sport. Women’s Development athletes usually start competing after preschool.
Ria Sessions tumbles mid-air after launching into a front pike off of the vault at the state meet. Submitted photo
Being on the XCEL team allowed Sessions to also participate in other activities and sports, such as karate. She is also a high honors student at Oxford Hills Middle School. Ria said she maintains a tight schedule, balancing practice, school and homework, and does not get to bed until midnight or 12:30 a.m. most nights, but she stays consistent because she loves gymnastics that much.
“Most kids will tend to not be able to stay focused, and halfway through the year they’re getting tired of it,” Brian Sessions said. “She sees what she’s got to do, she focuses on it and she continues until she’s done. I have never seen a kid before that’s able to focus on training the way she does, and she trains hard.”
Ria said her confidence has grown each season. When she first started competing at 8 years old, she said she wasn’t confident, but now she’s learned how to “move into the choreography and show myself off, and present myself better to the judges.”
Sessions also said her parents have been instrumental, providing tough love and “brutal honesty” when she makes a mistake during a routine. She loves gymnastics because it allows her put everything else out of her mind and focus on doing what she loves.
“I’m not sure if that’s for everyone, but just for me, when I get to the event, my brain just shuts off and I just don’t think about anything,” Sessions said. “I just do what I love.”
Susan Wiemer, right, has coached Norway’s Ria Sessions, left, for the past five years at Maine Academy of Gymnastics in Westbrook. Submitted photo
Wiemer said Sessions is a leader by example for her seven Platinum XCEL teammates.
“She sets a good example with her work ethic in really trying to make everything perfect,” Wiemer said. “She worked really hard on clean lines, having straight legs and pointed toes and working over and over on something. Even if I try to give her a break and let her stop, she’ll keep trying.”
Sessions is just as appreciative of Wiemer, and the impact she’s had during her five years of competing.
“I just love her,” Sessions said. “She’s the best coach and we have a lot of fun at practice.”
Sessions plans to move to the Diamond XCEL team next season to continue competing, and plans to stay on the Olympic track.
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