Our first competition of the season is over and we are moving on to our second tomorrow. So far, the season is going well. This was Z's first competition in Level 4, and with the lack of a full summer of practice, I was a bit concerned over how it was going to go. And, it was an emotional weekend as the day before competition, we sent her brother off to college--seven hours away. We had to say goodbye and watch him drive away because we had to compete. Although she couldn't verbalize it, I know that it hit her almost as hard as the rest of us.
The morning of competition Z woke up early, unable to sleep because she was so excited. Our Level 3 team was competing before us, so we decided to go ahead and get ready and head down to the meet. I had her hair all done, except for the bun, to make it easier once we were there. It was a three hour drive, but very worth it to go. Our Level 3 team did great--all but one girl qualified for States and they took 2nd place as a team. I'm pretty sure that every girl went home with at least one medal.
Then came time for the Level 4 competition. This was a huge meet with at least 30 girls in each age group (we normally have about 15). As a result there were a lot of delays between events. I was worried that the girls might get distracted, but their coach is AWESOME and kept them all in good moods and on track. We had friends who came to watch Z, and luckily her dad and sister made it from taking big brother to school just in time to see her compete her first event.
I love it when Z gets the traditional rotation. I'm so used to that format, and it allows her to finish up on floor, which is generally her best event. My concern was the first event was vault--one that she can be hot or cold on and one that is a little strange because our girls have never had the experience of landing on a hard surface. The vault table at our gym has a foam pit behind it and although we put mats in to firm it up, it is not the same as a regular floor. Watching her warm up, I was very nervous. She was not sticking the landing and I told myself that if she got an 8.000, I would be happy. Her teammates were all before her and did well, all scoring over 8.350. Z got up and went and flew over the vault table. I thought she looked great, and apparently so did the judges as she scored a 9.150!
Bars was next. Z has definitely had issues with bars this year. This is the first year where they use both bars and her squat on has had issues--she tends to not keep her shoulders over the bar and falls backwards. So when she was performing and had a beautiful squat on I was very encouraged. Unfortunately, when she jumped to the high bar, she missed with one hand and landed on the floor on her back. She was a trooper though and got back up and finished her routine. She did struggle on the kip to the high bar and as a result received a 7.875. Obviously, if she had not had the two falls, she would have had at least an 8.875, so I was happy. And very happy that she got up and finished her routine and didn't give up. (According to the coach later, the judges were also impressed that she did that.)
Beam was next. She was the last one up, and I was a little concerned because the two girls before her both fell, and she saw it. She sometimes has problems with falls and I was hoping that it wouldn't get in to her head. Luckily it didn't and she scored an 8.700--she still has bobbles that she needs to work on, but she didn't fall.
Finally she was on floor. Her entire team did exceptional on floor, with the lowest score being a 9.300. Z looked great and scored a 9.425. I was so happy for her and with her 35.150 all around score knew that she had qualified for States.
When it came time for awards, I figured she would probably get something on vault and floor. She wound up with first on vault, twelfth on beam, second on floor and fourth all around. In addition, her team took third overall. Turns out we took first on vault and tied for first on floor as a team. It was great. All five girls qualified for States--which takes a lot of pressure off of us for the rest of the season.
Tomorrow is Go Green. Last year that was a meet where Z did not do as well (still did well, but not in her mind). I tried to remind her that it might be a hard meet, and she is very positive and said that it won't be. We will be driving down tonight after practice--and giving her coach a ride. :). Wish us luck.
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