Centre Elite Gymnastics is proud to have wonderful, talented and passionate staff members. We offer more than 180 years of combined experience with competitive gymnastics and coaching at all levels.
TEAM STAFF
Jen has been coaching gymnastics for over 20 years, most notably at Hill’s Gymnastics in Gaithersburg Maryland. At Hill’s, Jen was the Assistant Coach to Kelli Hill, Owner and 4 time United States Olympic Coach. She has coached in many International and National Elite Competitions - she attended the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia with athlete Elise Ray, and then in 2002 she assisted athlete Courtney Kupets to a Gold medal on bars at the World Championships in Debrecen, Hungary . Jen also assisted in coaching Courtney Kupets to the 2003 World Championships in Anaheim, CA and to the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece where the USA Team earned a Silver medal. Additionally, she had athletes qualify for and attend USA Championships 7 years in a row, including the years in which Elise (2000) and Courtney (2003 & 2004) won Senior International Elite National titles.
At the JO level, Jen coached athletes at Level 10 Nationals 9 years in a row, as well as attended numerous Level 9 Eastern Championships. Jen has coached gymnasts to College scholarships at many Universities including: Alabama, Arizona, Auburn, Cornell, Florida, Georgia, Ithica, IUP, Maryland, Michigan, NC State, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, Stanford, Utah, West Chester, William and Mary, and Yale.
Jen’s successful coaching career has earned her many honors including the United States Elite Coaches Association National Elite Coach of the Year in 2003 and the opportunity to hold the position of Region VII Elite Committee Chairperson. While in the Region VII Elite position, Jen was responsible for helping to develop the TOP and National Elite Compulsory testing programs for the Country, as well as coordinating the Region VII Elite/TOPS training camps. In 2014 Jen was named a Master of Sport by USA Gymnastics- an honorary title awarded to coaches who have demonstrated their ability to train and produce athletes that have represented the United States in a Pan American, World Championship and/or Olympic Games competition. Currently she holds the position of USA Gymnastics Region VII Administrative Chair where she is responsible for the overall organization, administration and finances of Region VII which includes Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia & West Virginia.
Jen is eager to share her knowledge and experience with the gymnasts at Centre Elite Gymnastics, while helping to coach our gymnasts to the highest level they are able to achieve. Jen is a State College native, attended State High as well as received a Bachelors degree in Exercise and Sport Science from Pennsylvania State University. Jen & her husband Brian live in State College. They have two daughters who are both members of the Centre Elite Gymnastics Team. She also enjoys spending time with her family at the Chesapeake Bay crabbing and camping with her family.
Ryan Terrill is entering his 4th season as our head boy’s team coach at Centre Elite. His background in gymnastics began when he was only 4 years old where he started basic recreation classes in his hometown in San Angelo, TX. Ryan started competing when he was 6 years old and moved his way up to level 7 until he quit gymnastics in 6th grade to pursue other sports such as football, basketball, and track in middle school.
Keeping gymnastics in the back of his mind through middle school, he decided to start the sport back up again to compete high school gymnastics for San Angelo Central High School; making the varsity gymnastics team as a freshman. Ryan continued to play football for his high school through his sophomore year, but after some injuries and a constant struggling to find enough time to commit fully to both sports, he chose to give up football and fully commit to gymnastics in pursuit to compete for the University of Oklahoma Men’s Gymnastics team.
In high school, Ryan was a 2-time District All-Around Champion, 3-time Regional All-Around Champion, and Runner Up in the All-Around in the Texas State Championships his senior year. He went on to the University of Oklahoma to try to walk on to the NCAA team in 2012.
Battling with an almost year-long battle with cancer that consisted of 5 surgeries, 6 months of chemotherapy, and 2 months of radiation treatment during his freshman year of college, Ryan would continue his passion and pursue competing collegiate gymnastics for The University of Oklahoma. Ryan went on to compete for the University of Oklahoma’s Club Men’s Gymnastics program. A program that would work and train jointly with and follow the NCAA program’s standards.
Ryan competed for the club team for 4 years and was a crucial part of the Sooners’ NAIGC National Championship Team in 2015 and 2016, as well as becoming the NAIGC National All-Around Champion in 2016.
Ryan graduated from The University of Oklahoma with a Bachelor’s degree in Health and Exercise Science and has now formed his passion for gymnastics into coaching. Ryan’s goal is to develop gymnasts into fully functional athletes by creating and developing specific strength and conditioning programs to help build a stronger foundation in young athletes and help prevent common injuries that occur in men’s gymnastics.
He has a passion for learning and staying up to date with current exercise science and sports performance principles, as well as applying them into a yearly training program that allows our athletes to continue to grow and develop into elite athletes year round. Ryan believes that gymnastics teaches crucial life lessons such as mental toughness, learning how to accept and overcome constant failure, the true meaning of 100% effort, becoming a team player, and overcoming fears, that are crucial in the development in a successful athlete and person. He hopes that these lessons paired with his background and experience in the sport of gymnastics will build a powerhouse of a boy’s program at CEG full of elite athletes and even better people.
Beth was a gymnast from age 9 to 22. As a Class 1 gymnast (equivalent to today’s Level 10), she was a Regional and Eastern National competitor. She also competed for her high school, Cumberland Valley, Mechanicsburg, PA and was a District and Regional AA Champion and a PIAA Floor Champion. Beth earned a full scholarship to West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, where she competed 4 years as an all-around gymnast, and was co-captian her junior and senior year. She was voted most improved gymnast in her freshman, sophomore and senior year. Beth still holds the record for the most meets competed in at WVU.
Beth has a BS in Elementary Education with a minor in Early Education. She has taught in the classroom, Kindergarten to 9th grade, in Laurel, MD, Harrisburg, PA, and now currently teaches 1st grade in the Clearfield Area School District.
Beth began teaching gymnastics when she was 16 years old and has taught gymnastics classes, Pre-Team and Compulsory teams in both MD and PA.
Beth lives in Clearfield with her husband Scott, and daughter Ellen, who is a member of the Centre Elite Gymnastics Team.
Katelynn is a former gymnast who reached USAG Level 8 while competing at Nittany Gymnastics. She is also a former PA State and PA District 6 High School Gymnastics All Around Champion. Katelynn has taught preschool and school age gymnastics classes and coached the compulsory teams while attending Penn State University.
Elizabeth grew up as a gymnast in Northeastern Wisconsin. She started gymnastics at the age of three and competed throughout Wisconsin and Upper Michigan. She began coaching in 2007 in Wisconsin and eventually relocated to Chicago where she continued to work with programs such as USAG compulsories , Xcel/AAU, GIJO (Gymnastics of Illinois Junior Organization), Pre-Team and recreational gymnastics and trampoline.
Liz has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Elementary and Middle Education with an emphasis in Music Education, as well as minors in Music Performance and Social Sciences from North Park University of Chicago, and a Master of Education in Special Education from Penn State University. During her time in Chicago, she was granted a cheerleading scholarship, competed for her university for four years and led her team as captain. She spent time coaching cheerleading at a college prep in Chicago and is a member of the AACCA (American Association of Cheerleading Coaches and Administrators).
At CEG, Liz is the tumbling program director and head coach of the competitive trampoline and tumbling team. In addition, she assists with the artistic gymnastics program as well as works with the girl's team, teaching dance. She has experience working with gymnasts with special needs in the mainstream recreational gymnastics setting as well as working with the Pennsylvania Special Olympics gymnastics program.
Catelin grew up in the gym - starting gymnastics at the age of 2 and competing for 10 years through her senior year of high school. She became interested in teaching gymnastics while in high school and after training to teach gymnastics, became a pre-team coach in the summer of 2015.
Catelin is currently studying at Penn State, majoring in Elementary Education. Catelin, the oldest of 4 siblings, has a natural ease with pre-school and elementary age children and enjoys sharing her gymnastics experience with her pre-teamers.
Catelin is also an award winning artist and a very active CrossFit athlete.
Jen grew up in rural northern New Jersey and trained at North Stars until she was 11. She continued dancing competitively throughout high school, while also participating in marching band, symphonic band, and jazz band.
Teaching others has always been her biggest passion. She started as a dance assistant at the age of 13, became a gymnastics instructor at 17, and held her first position as head coach of an IGC team at age 24. Jen’s love for teaching continued to develop as she coached children of many different ages and levels.
Jennifer’s teaching philosophy involves adaptation to her individual students’ needs. Her goal is to help foster the development of well rounded and happy kids. She takes each athlete and encourages them to do their very best by teaching them what it means to work hard, how to set personal goals, and helps each child build confidence by allowing them to be proud of all of their accomplishments, big and small.
Jennifer encourages a strong team friendship through social skills and by helping them communicate with each other. It is important to her that the girls do not compare themselves to each other or focus solely on scoring. She likes to encourage her gymnasts to participate in other school, social, or athletic opportunities outside of the gym.
Jen began her career at Centre Elite Gymnastics in 2015 after moving to State College from New Jersey. She is in her 4th season working with our compulsory level girls team. Jen lives with her husband, Andy, and two children, Riley and Liam.
Abby has been coaching at CEG since 2012 and has been coaching gymnastics for over 20 years. She has a national rating for judging gymnastics and has been judging for 18 years. Abby was a competitive gymnast through Level 8 and attended Bowling Green State University. She graduated in 2005 with a degree in Exercise Science. She is currently working on a Masters Program through Penn State University.
She currently works for Geisinger Health System and lives in Bellefonte with her husband, Gabe, and their 2 daughters.
Carlos is entering his 4th year at Centre Elite and 5th season with the Nittany Lions. He previously spent 20 years as the head coach of the men's program at Capital Gymnastics National Training Center in Burke, Virginia. Additionally, he has served as a U.S. Junior National Team coach since 1992, including serving as an assistant coach for the Junior Pan American Championships in Sao Palo, Brazil in 1992. Among the gymnasts under Vazquez's tutelage are 2008 Olympian Justin Spring, U.S. National Team members Jay Nardelli, Jason Furr, Dan Gill, Tim McNeal and Abhinov Ramani. Vazquez has been a member of USA Gymnastics Pro since 1985. Vazquez was a four-time letterwinner at Temple and served as the team captain from 1982-84. He graduated from Temple with a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering.
Tony grew up in Allentown, PA and trained at Lehigh Valley Sports Academy. He has been involved in gymnastics for 20 Years, competing from the junior level all the way through the collegiate level. He has competed at the Visa Championships, U.S Winter Cup Challenge, and the Junior Olympic National Championships.
Tony competed for Penn State from 2010-2013 where he had a 4th place finish on Parallel Bars at the BIG Ten Championships and 9th on Pommel Horse at the NCAA Championships.
Tony started the Centre Elite Boy’s program in 2013. In 2015, the Centre Elite Boy’s Team finished as the 4th best team in the State of Pennsylvania and Tony was named the 2015 Boys Coach of the Year.
In addition to assisting with the CEG Boys program, Tony is an Assistant Coach for the Penn State Men's Gymnastics Team. In this position he has had the opportunity to help coach the Penn State Men's Team on their journey to winning the 2015 BIG Ten Team Championships. Tony is also a certified judge and has judged Junior Olympic and Collegiate men’s gymnastics meets.
Tony has a B.S. in Recreation, Park, and Tourism Management from The Pennsylvania State University. He and his wife Jenna live in State College with their dogs Koby and Kooper.
Drass, an alum of the Penn State men’s gymnastics program, joins the Centre Elite coaching staff after serving as the assistant head coach for the University of Pittsburgh women’s gymnastics team from 2014-17.
During his time at Pittsburgh, Drass helped the Panthers capture their first East Atlantic Gymnastics League (EAGL) title in program history in 2016. Individually, he helped coach Lindsay Offutt to the 2016 NCAA Women’s Gymnastics Championships, where she competed on floor. Offutt was the sixth Panther all-time and first since 2007 to earn become a National Qualifier.
Prior to joining the Panthers, Drass was the head coach at the University of Missouri from 1999-2013. As the head coach of the Mizzou Tigers, Drass was tabbed the Big 12 Coach of the Year in 2002, and he led his team to seven top-20 NCAA finishes. In 2010, the Tigers captured an NCAA Regional title and a 12th-place finish at the NCAA Championships.
After completing his career as a student-athlete at Penn State, Drass was a member of the University of Nebraska women’s gymnastics coaching staff from 1991-99. During his time at Nebraska, the Cornhuskers won six Big 8/Big 12 conference titles and advanced to the NCAA Championships four times, which included two Super Six appearances. While he was on staff at Nebraska, Drass served as the primary recruiter.
Drass is a 1990 graduate of Penn State as he obtained a bachelor’s degree in marketing with an emphasis in finance and computer science. He then went on to earn an MBA with a concentration in strategic management and long-range planning from the University of Nebraska in 1994.
A native of Altoona, Pennsylvania, Drass is married to Dr. Joy C. Drass and they have two children, Molly and James.
PROGRAM DIRECTORS
Heather started doing gymnastics at 4 years old and was a competitive gymnast for 15 years. As a level 10 gymnast Heather was both a Regional and National competitor. She was a USAG Level 10 Regional Vault Champion while competing at Nittany Gymnastics in State College before joining the Penn State Women’s Gymnastics team as a vault specialist.
After receiving her degree from Penn State, Heather worked at one employer in the Convenience Store Industry for 12 years. During her tenure she worked in Information Technology, Marketing, Sales and Merchandising.
Heather is the Business Programs Manager and the Group Fitness Manager at Centre Elite. She holds Les Mills Group Fitness Instructor Certifications in both Les Mills CORE and BODYCOMBAT and teaches a number of group fitness classes to our members each week. She is a USA Gymnastics Certified Meet Director and was the Meet Director and Meet Coordinator for the 2016 Level 8 Regional Championships, 2017 Level 7 State Championships, 2018 Level 4 State Championships, the 2021 Xcel State Championships, 2022 Level 8-9-10 State Championships and 2023 Xcel Gold, DIamond & Sapphire State Championships. In 2020 Heather joined the PA Gymnastics State Committee as a Competition Coordinator.
Heather and her husband Paul live in Petersburg, PA with their dog Winslow.
Stephanie has more than 20 years of experience teaching and raising young children. She has a B.S. in Elementary Education with an endorsement in Early Education and has taught most grades in a number of different states. While over seas supporting her husband in the Air Force, she taught a community home schooling preschool. In addition, she has coached basketball, softball and volleyball.
Stephanie has been teaching preschool gymnastics classes and our morning Kindergym program for the past two years. She loves fitting into the family here at Centre Elite and believes that "Children are the future. I just want to teach them many social, academic and athletic skills all while having fun learning gymnastics! Life can have it all when you're young!"
Stephanie is the Preschool Program Director and also runs the Kindergym program.
CEG is owned by Penn State alumnus, Tracy Salvino Longenecker. Tracy was a competitive gymnast for 13 years. She has earned finishes in the top 5 in PA State meets, top 5 in Region 7 Regional meets, top 9 at JO Nationals, top 6 at USAIGC Nationals and attended Elite Nationals. She won national invitational competitions and regional championships and earned a full scholarship to the Penn State Women’s Gymnastics team.
Tracy began teaching preschool gymnastics in high school and after graduating from Penn State, has spent more than 24 years coaching all levels of gymnastics. She was trained in dance for 7 years and has choreographed beam and floor routines for all levels of gymnasts.
Aside from gymnastics, Tracy worked in sales for a Fortune 200 company for 12 years with a sales team that handled over $90 million in business. After moving on from sales, she launched a nation wide marketing program in the convenience store industry and while in that position, had the opportunity to work in all aspects of business operations from hiring, payroll and accounting to budget creation, vendor management and strategic planning.
Centre Elite Gymnastics is Tracy’s opportunity to combine her passion for gymnastics with the business insights she has gained over the last 27 years. She is proud to share her gymnastics knowledge with the Centre Region community and looks forward to establishing a business that is valued and well respected among the families of Central PA.
Tracy has four children, a daughter and son at Penn State and two daughters in high school, who are also Level 9 gymnasts at CEG.