Meet the Staff
The Zone’s talented team of coaches, instructors, and admin support personnel are simply the very best! Every team member, including owners and support personnel, is Safe Sport certified and has passed a USAG Sanctioned Criminal Background Check, giving you the peace of mind that your children are protected while in our care. All coaches and instructors, in addition to possessing the appropriate USAG teaching credentials, have successfully completed the American Heart Association Basic Life Support (CPR and AED) Program (certificates are on file).
Dan Howell
Owner
Dan purchased The Zone Athletics Center in August 2019. Dan has 30 years experience as a successful entrepreneur and small business owner in the Evansville Area. Dan’s love of gymnastics stems from his years as a “Gym Dad” watching his daughter, Kassidy, develop from a Pre-K gymnast to a senior on the University of Kentucky Women’s Gymnastics Team. His goal is to develop The Zone as a premier safe, family oriented training facility for boys and girls wanting to achieve basic skills or college scholarships in gymnastics, tumbling, trampoline or cheerleading.
Jill Howell
Owner
Jill is an Evansville native who attended Harrison High School and USI where she earned both a bachelors degree in Business Administration and in Nursing. She has worked for the last 20 years as a Registered Nurse and is currently a nurse at The Women’s Hospital. She shares Dan’s passion for gymnastics and although not involved in the day to day operations of the gym she manages the marketing side of the business. She and Dan are the proud parents of three children, Kassidy, Kane and Kyle.
Gennadii Samsanov
Head Coach
Girls Team Gymnastics
Gennadii Samsonov is a former USSR national champion (Master of Sport). As a gymnastics coach in Kyrgyzstan, Gennadii trained national and international athletes. He served as head coach of the Kyrgyzstan women’s team, preparing the team for the Youth Olympic Games and the World Cup in China. Since moving to the United States in 2003, Gennadii has trained Indiana State, Region 5 and National champions. Two of Gennadii’s former students are now on NCAA Division I gymnastics teams.
Svetlana Samsanov
Asst. Head Coach
Girls Team Gymnastics
Svetlana is a former USSR national champion (Master of Sports) and member of the Kyrgyzstan national gymnastics team. Her extensive background includes choreography, aerobics and gymnastics. She’s a former president of the Aerobics Federation in Kyrgyzstan. Since moving to the United States, Svetlana has trained Indiana State, Region 5 and National champions. Two of Svetlana’s former students are now on NCAA Division I gymnastics teams.
Roland Vera
Gym Manager
Head Coach
Boys Team Gymnastics
Taylor Patterson
Gymnastics/Tumbling
Instructor
Social Media and Marketing Content Creator
Camp Director
Taylor is a Boonville, IN native. She first started working at The Zone back in Winter of 2021. She then started our summer camp program in Summer of 2021 and continued providing for our camp programs for the winter and summer. She graduated from Murray State University in December 2022 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Organizational Communication with a minor in Sports Communication. She now is creating content for social media and the gym to provide important information and to celebrate our team’s successes.
Sasha Loerhrlein
XCel Gymnastics
Head Coach
Girls Compulsory Gymnastics
Team Coach
Sasha move from Kyrgystan to the U.S. in 2005. She was a artistic and rhythmic gymnast for 10 years. Her accolades include being apart of the Kyrgystan national gymnastics team, competing in the Junior Olympics in Moscow in 2002. Once she moved she attend Evansville Ballet School. Sasha has coached ballet and gymnastics since she was in highschool. In 2018 she started working at the zone as one of our coaching staff. Her daughter Mackenzie is currently level 4-5 gymnast at The Zone. Sasha’s experience and expertise are a great addition to our Zone Family.
Tatiana Manuilova
Girls Pre Team, XCel and Compulsory Gymnastics
Team Coach
Andy Brown
Instructor
Dryland Diving
Coach Andy Brown has been working with divers for over 15 years. He has coached divers from the elementary school age to the NCAA D-1 level. Over those 15 years he has had:
4 Middle School Conference Champs
2 Middle School State Qualifiers
9 High School Conference Champs
13 High School State Qualifiers
2 AAU National Qualifier
2 NCAA Conference Champs
5 NCAA Zone Qualifiers
1 NCAA Conference Coach of the Year
10 School Records broken
Kassidy Howell
Girls Optional/Compulsory Gymnastics Team Coach
Media Support
Kassidy graduated from the University of Kentucky with a BS in Kinesiology and a minor in coaching. For all 4 years she was a student-athlete competing on UK’s Women’s Gymnastics Team.
Kassidy has 19 years experience as a gymnast. As a USAG gymnast she competed in Levels 3 thru 10, and attending USAG Nationals three time, garnering a National Championship on Uneven Bars.
While at UK her team was consistently nationally ranked as an NCAA Division I top 10 team. She has coached at the Zone since 2019. In addition to her formal collegiate coaching courses she also coached clinics and camps at other gyms in the tri-state area . With this coaching experience and her own experiences as gymnast, she is able to understand how to help athletes through struggles they may face and is excited and willing to help these gymnasts succeed.
Audrey McGee
Recreational and Pre-K
Gymnastics Instructor
Audrey, is a 3rd grade teacher at Allendale CCSD #17 in Allendale, Illinois. Audrey was as gymnast and cheerleader when she was younger. She has experience coaching from when she was in highschool and has coached since then. She brings a great wealth of knowledge and experience to our recreational gymnastics and pre-k programs. When Audrey is not teaching or coaching, she enjoys spending her time reading and with her family, watching her kids play their sports.
Maggie Franz
Instructor
Dryland Diving/Recreational Gymnastics
Maggie Franz is a former Division I diver at the University of Evansville and calls Chicago home. She was a competitive gymnast for 14 years and has been diving for 8 years. As a part time instructor she brings a wealth of experience to The Zone.
Levi McKinney
Coach
Boys Team Gymnastics
Levi McKinney is a Division I diver at the University of Evansville. He was a competitive gymnast for many years and brings great experience to The Zone Boys Gymnastics Team.
Erin Hobgood
Instructor
Tumbling
Erin was a former Level 9 gymnast qualifying and competing at Regionals for Region 5. She also had former competitive cheer experience as well.
Since graduating college, Erin has over a decade of coaching experience teaching gymnastics, but more recently cheer and acrobatics.
She’s a little loud and over-the-top, but loves seeing kids learning and succeeding.
She also loves her two great big red dogs and is trying to get back to running and walking after injury last year.
Lucy Hunter
Instructor
Girls Recreational Classes
Gymnastics
Tumbling
Lucy, is from Oakland City, Indiana. She first started working at The Zone in 2022. Lucy did gymnastics for 5 years, began to cheer all the way through high school, and continues to tumble in her free time. She currently attends University of Southern Indiana majoring in Psychology with a career plan of becoming a Forensic Psychologist. She has been a great asset to our Gymnastics and Tumbling Recreational classes!
Kane Howell
Tumbling Instructor
Camp Counselor
Kane attends Castle High School and has competed on The Zone’s Tumbling & Trampoline Team. Kane also coaches one on one with students that have special needs or need more time in grasping basic skills.
Grant Causey
Instructor
Ninja and Parkour
Grant is from Brimingham, Alabama. He is our Parkour and Ninja instructor with certifications in both, which he obtained in 2018. He is a great addition to The Zone coaching staff, giving his knowledge and passion for ninja and parkour to our athletes who attend his classes.
Casey Calvert
Instructor
Pre-K Director
Gymnastics
Abigail Berg
Intructor
Recreational and Pre-K
Gymnastics
Gracin Geroge
Instructor
Gymnastics, Pre-K, and Tumbling
Camp Counselor
Gracin first started working at The Zone in 2018. Gracin did gymnastics for 10 years prior to doing cheerleading and diving in high school. She is currently a student at The University of Southern Indiana majoring in exercise science. Her experience in gymnastics and cheerleading has made her a great asset to our coaching staff
Barb Garrett
Office Manager
Barb started her gym career in 1994 at another gym in Evansville. At this gym she taught gymnastics, dance and drove the ever popular tumble bus. In 1999 Barb moved to The Cheer Zone (the forerunner to The Zone Athletics Center). In support of The Cheer Zone she purchased and again drove the tumble bus and started taking over administrative duties. In August 2019 Barb accepted the position of Office Manager, when we adopted a completely new gym management software package. She immediately dove into this system and we are now starting to trust it and produce meaningful reports. In her spare time, Barb loves gardening, working in the yard and spending time making gymnastics and cheer outfits for her own business “Too Flippin Cute”.
Johna Wilmes
Pro Shop Manager
Johna has been at The Zone for 4 years. She is our pro shop manager and works with accounts receivable. She is responsible for keeping our pro shop running smoothly and helps when needed with clients. She is a great asset to our staff, as she is positive and reliable. When she is not managing the pro shop, she enjoys spending time with her husband, children, and grandchildren.