Life For Luna Family Revolves Around Sport Gymnastics

Gymnastics is all about family to Sergio Luna.

Tomorrow morning, the Luna family will be out in force at the University of Washington's Edmundson Pavilion, site of the Washington Open boys' age-group gymnastics meet.

Sergio Luna, the girls gymnastics coach at Juanita High School, competed in the meet for more than a decade and is now a judge. His oldest son, Daniel, a graduate of Lake Washington and now a freshman on the Washington men's gymnastics team, is entered in the under-18 division.

Sergio Luna III, an eighth-grader at Rose Hill Junior High, is entered in the under-13 division; Joshua Luna, a third-grader at Benjamin Franklin Elementary, is in the under-8 division. Joshua is competing in his first Washington Open, which has become a rite of passage for the Luna sons.

``It's a good feeling having my sons compete here,'' the eldest Luna said. ``I owe gymnastics a lot. That's how I came to this country, met my wife and had my family. I'm truly biased. Gymnastics taught me discipline and it also had its rewards.''

The Luna brothers are three of six gymnasts from the Eastside who will compete in the Washington Open. Marcus Hansen, 13, Chris Jensen, 12, and Cabel King, 15, are the others. All are from Redmond.

About 150 gymnasts of all levels are entered. Most are from Washington. Some are from Idaho, Oregon and Canada. National high-bar champion Mark Oliver and national team member Mike Williams will

compete in the meet. Both are from Seattle.

Sergio Luna, 41, competed in his first Washington Open in 1975 after finishing a collegiate career at the University of Utah. The Washington Open used to be considered the opener for the boys' high-school season. Now that most high schools do not offer boys gymnastics programs, it is the meet.

In addition to age-group competition, there is an open division for collegiate gymnasts and former collegiate gymnasts.

The meet earned an international reputation back in the days when the Washington men's gymnastics team recruited athletes from Europe and Japan.

``Everyone looked forward to competing in that meet,'' Luna said. ``. . . It's really the biggest meet in Pacific Northwest, sometimes larger than the state meet.''

Luna, who stopped competing in the meet three years ago, took over Juanita's program last year, but is still an instructor at the Washington Gymnastics Academy. His wife Linda is also an instructor there.

The Lunas also have a daughter, Amber, a sophomore at Lake Washington and a level-10 gymnast, one level below the elite level Olympic-caliber gymnasts compete in. There are two more kids too young to compete, but Linda Luna doesn't have much doubt they will when they're old enough.

``I think all the kids did flip-flops in my tummy,'' she said.

Like her husband, Linda Luna was a gymnast. As a member of the now-defunct Greater Seattle Gymnastics Club, Linda competed all over the world. Sergio and Linda met during the club's swing into South America.

Sergio, originally from Ecuador, learned gymnastics at the relatively advanced age of 15 but was good enough to make his country's national team. An American coach sent to Ecuador by the State Department to coach the national team noticed Luna. He saw Luna again in the '67 Pan Am Games and offered him a scholarship to Utah. Linda's roots brought the Lunas to Seattle.

Next month, the Lunas will host a member of the Chilean national team, Jennifer Kendall. She will be part of an exhibition at Juanita later this month.

The Washington Open starts at 10 a.m. with the early session for entry-level gymnasts. The older competitors will be in the second session, which starts at 2 p.m.