By Special to the Town Crier

Erica Hicks, a fourth-grader at Almond School, has been invited to compete in a national test to find girls ages 9-11 who have the potential to become world-caliber gymnasts.

Put on by the USA Gymnastics Federation’s Talent Opportunity Program, the test is scheduled for Friday through Sunday in Indianapolis.

The federation’s search for talented young gymnasts started in June when it began testing more than 1,400 girls from 200 different gymnastics clubs across the United States.

At the end of August, TOP announced the names of 249 finalists who have qualified to attend the 2001 TOP National Testing in Indianapolis.

Erica, a Mountain View resident, was one of only seven 9-year-old Californians to receive an invitation and among 82 nationwide.

Eight 10-year-olds and 11 11-year-olds from California were also invited.

The top 80 girls from this test will be invited to an all-expenses-paid National Training Camp at TOP’s National Training Center in Tulsa, Okla., in December.

Erica earned her spot at the National Testing by scoring perfect 10s in all three flexibility tests: right leg split, left leg split and active shoulder flexibility.

Erica also demonstrated impressive strength and speed in the seven other TOP events: pull-ups; push-ups; leg-lifts; rope climb; vertical jump; 20-meter sprint; and stadler press-handstands.

Erica trains at Twisters Gymnastics in Mountain View. Her coach is Emily Tripiano, a Mountain View resident and schoolteacher.