The 23rd Annual Stars and Stripes invitational continued this weekend at the Bayfront Convention Center as athletes competed for qualifying scores for their state championships.

The event brought together over 40 gymnastics clubs from Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Michigan, West Virginia, and Ontario.


The Stars and Stripes Invitational was created to honor the fallen heroes of 9/11 and has grown over the past twenty years.

Douglas Pershun, the Meet director for Stars & Stripes explained, "It has built; it started with 300 athletes the first year to 2,000 athletes this year. That is the largest co-ed gymnastics invitational in the state of Pennsylvania.”


Events began Saturday morning and continued all through the day.