Competitors from the Raleigh School of Gymnastics spent a lot of time on the podium, building a collection of gold, silver and bronze medals at the Region 8 Prep Optional Gymnastics Championship held April 29-May 1 in Palmetto, Fla.    
 
One Raleigh School gymnast, Nhyla Bryant, 9, of Raleigh also represented the state on the North Carolina State Platinum Team. She earned individual first-place honors on bars (9.700) and second place all-around.

Raleigh School’s Platinum Level team took first-place honors in the all-around, on vault (28.350), on beam (28.500) and on floor (29.150).
 

The Triangle Tarheels Basketball Club fifth-grade girls basketball team completed its AAU season with 30 wins and three losses and earned a place in the Amateur Athletic Union Division 1 National Tournament to be played June 26-July 1 in Hampton, Va.

"We're really excited about that," coach Amad Smalls said Monday night.

To help pay for trip expenses, the team, which place third in the state tournament to take one of four qualifying spots for nationals, is conducting fundraising activities, including mother-daughter and father-daughter tournaments this weekend, and accepting donations, Smalls said.

Volleyball no longer is just an indoor, hard-court game in the Triangle. The players have taken the game to the sand.

Beach volleyball has developed a strong following, and this past weekend nearly 200 players on 88 teams from across North Carolina and as far away as Georgia took to the sand courts at Raleigh's Jaycee Park and North Cary Park.

The first pitch of the Long Ball Program youth league will be thrown at 6 p.m. Monday at Durham Athletic Park.

The league, part of a Minor League Baseball pilot program, fields teams for ages 13-18 and welcomes sponsors and donors.

The league is free for the players but is a lot of hard work for the coaches, who scramble to find donations for everything from uniforms and snacks to dirt for the infield.

Young rugby enthusiasts in the Under-10 through Under-14 age groups will hit the pitch for a tournament this weekend in the Triangle.

The Raleigh Rattlesnakes, part of the Raleigh Rugby Football Club and the N.C. Youth Rugby Union, will host the Carolina Cup on Saturday at the Raleigh Rugby Complex at 7414 Poole Road, about four miles east of the beltline.

A women's rugby team from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and two men's teams from the Raleigh Rugby Football Club bowed out of their respective national tournaments over the weekend.

A women's rugby team from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and two men's teams from the Raleigh Rugby Football Club bowed out of their national tournaments over the weekend.

Put your competitive spirit and need for speed to work on May 20.

That's the day Rush Hour Karting in Garner will conduct a fundraising event to support American Red Cross relief efforts in the wake of the April 16 tornado outbreak across North Carolina.

Academic achievements, extracurricular activities and strong essays have earned three young athletes Touchstone Energy Sports Camp scholarships to sharpen their basketball skills this summer.