This is the meet that Zi has been waiting all season for--of course the main reason was because they give leos instead of t-shirts!
Spirit was definitely a different experience--the meet was huge, essentially running three sessions all at the same time in the same room. It was also a bit further away than most of our meets and involved teams from out-of-state and a team from Canada. :)
Due to some flooding and road closures earlier in the week, we left about an hour earlier than originally planned. Luckily the extra time wasn't needed and the drive went well. While normally we would find a Starbucks to use as a changing room, I knew the local Starbucks did not have a bathroom (or easy parking) and wasn't sure where to change. Thanks to my very tinted windows, Zi suggested changing in the car--which she did. :) We were able to get into the venue a little early, look around and stake out good seating for our session. I'm glad I did (and saved seats) because some of the other parents had found seats that would not have provided a good vantage point.
For the first time this season, we didn't start on beam! Instead it was floor, one of Zi's best events. I think because of the size of the building and that there were three sessions happening, I almost couldn't hear Zi's music. She was able to, however, and her routine looked good. A wobble after her 1 1/2 turn and her leap was a bit low, but otherwise it looked good. She scored a 9.325--which earned her 5th place.
Vault was next. She's been a little off on vault the last couple of meets. After warm-up, her coach texted me and said that she's doing better and looking good again. I thought she looked great other than a step on her landing, and she scored a 9.075, much better than her last two meets where she didn't get a 9. This gave her 9th place, which was below the medal rankings.
Bars--I was so nervous. The last two meets she has fallen and I wasn't sure how it was going to go. During warm-up, she went over on her cast to handstand and that made me wonder really how she was going to do. I shouldn't have worried, she had her best score of the season, 9.400 and tied for first place!
Final event was beam--weird that we have normally started on beam and now we ended on it. This is definitely Zi's weakest event, but she has been getting stronger. I noticed that her split jump was low and barely split--luckily it was split enough to count, but barely. She scored a 9.175, which gave her 7th place.
Her All-Around score was 36.975, her highest yet and she got a third place finish! The girl who took first place was from Canada, so not someone that she will compete against at States.
The team did well and took third place--without one of our girls competing. This is their third team award this season. So proud of all of them.
Our next meet is on Friday--another day missing from school. We will be leaving right after practice on Thursday night and sleeping near the venue. Wish us luck!
Tuesday, February 28, 2017
Wednesday, February 22, 2017
Roseville Invitational
I feel like I'm always writing the same things here. We practice, go to a meet, do well and practice again. I can only use the same modifiers so many times without sounding like a broken record, but here goes! 😉
The Roseville Invitational was held on Saturday for our Level 6 girls. We had to be there by 1:00 and the entire drive I was thinking that we were late, that I was going to get a call from the coach asking where we were, but luckily that didn't happen. It did happen to a girl on another team, but she was delayed due to traffic and weather--arriving just as warm-up ended.
Again our girls started on beam. That has been their starting event at every meet so far this season. Z did well, a few wobbles, but no falls and scored a 9.100. Not a bad score, and a 7th place finish.
On floor, Z had a pretty big step after her 1 1/2 turn, but still earned a 9.350. It was funny because we had the same judges on floor as at Sweetheart and Z scored 0.050 higher, but she thought her routine was much better. She was a bit frustrated, but in the end took first place!
Vault was fine. Nothing exciting, a step at the end on both. During warm-up she stuck a landing, but not during the competition. She wound up with a 9.050 and third place.
Bars was last. Her warm-up looked great and after the last meet we were hoping for a clean routine. Unfortunately, she didn't quite get her squat on, did a monkey swing and unfortunately missed the high bar--her fingers hit, but she wasn't quite tall enough to reach. The rest of the routine was good and she scored an 8.850. Better than last time, but still a big deduction--although it was the 2nd highest score on her team. She finished in 7th place even with the fall.
Her all-around score was 36.350, 0.400 higher than the last meet. She tied for 4th place, but there was also a tie for 2nd place, so she really had the third highest all around score. She was very happy with the additional 5 medals to add to her collection.
The team took third place and received a nice trophy instead of the traditional banner.
This was a weird meet for me--the only score board was on the far side of the gym, near the floor and was difficult to read and blurry. Also, most of the time you couldn't see it because girls were standing in front of it. Normally I can check the scores on meetscoresonline.com, however, for some reason after our third girl was on bars, it stopped working/updating. I never saw Z's bar score and ultimately had to ask her coach what it was. Also, I normally know what places Z gets before awards, but again, because it hadn't updated, I didn't find out until she did. Fun in some ways, but also frustrating.
We have another meet this Saturday--Spirit of the Flame. It is a very big meet held at the San Jose Convention Center. While it is a bit of a drive, it shouldn't be too bad. Z is happy because this meet gives out leos instead of t-shirts! (Roseville gave out sling-bags instead of t-shirts.)
The Roseville Invitational was held on Saturday for our Level 6 girls. We had to be there by 1:00 and the entire drive I was thinking that we were late, that I was going to get a call from the coach asking where we were, but luckily that didn't happen. It did happen to a girl on another team, but she was delayed due to traffic and weather--arriving just as warm-up ended.
Again our girls started on beam. That has been their starting event at every meet so far this season. Z did well, a few wobbles, but no falls and scored a 9.100. Not a bad score, and a 7th place finish.
On floor, Z had a pretty big step after her 1 1/2 turn, but still earned a 9.350. It was funny because we had the same judges on floor as at Sweetheart and Z scored 0.050 higher, but she thought her routine was much better. She was a bit frustrated, but in the end took first place!
Vault was fine. Nothing exciting, a step at the end on both. During warm-up she stuck a landing, but not during the competition. She wound up with a 9.050 and third place.
Bars was last. Her warm-up looked great and after the last meet we were hoping for a clean routine. Unfortunately, she didn't quite get her squat on, did a monkey swing and unfortunately missed the high bar--her fingers hit, but she wasn't quite tall enough to reach. The rest of the routine was good and she scored an 8.850. Better than last time, but still a big deduction--although it was the 2nd highest score on her team. She finished in 7th place even with the fall.
Her all-around score was 36.350, 0.400 higher than the last meet. She tied for 4th place, but there was also a tie for 2nd place, so she really had the third highest all around score. She was very happy with the additional 5 medals to add to her collection.
The team took third place and received a nice trophy instead of the traditional banner.
This was a weird meet for me--the only score board was on the far side of the gym, near the floor and was difficult to read and blurry. Also, most of the time you couldn't see it because girls were standing in front of it. Normally I can check the scores on meetscoresonline.com, however, for some reason after our third girl was on bars, it stopped working/updating. I never saw Z's bar score and ultimately had to ask her coach what it was. Also, I normally know what places Z gets before awards, but again, because it hadn't updated, I didn't find out until she did. Fun in some ways, but also frustrating.
We have another meet this Saturday--Spirit of the Flame. It is a very big meet held at the San Jose Convention Center. While it is a bit of a drive, it shouldn't be too bad. Z is happy because this meet gives out leos instead of t-shirts! (Roseville gave out sling-bags instead of t-shirts.)
Monday, February 6, 2017
Sweetheart Invitational
Well, we have our second official optional meet under our belts. There were highs and there were lows, but we definitely know where we are going.
This week was a bit odd because Z had a week-long science camp with her school to attend. As such, she missed three days of practice this week. It would have been four, but I picked her up on Thursday from camp, took her to practice and then back to camp in time for bed. I could tell watching her practice both Thursday and Friday that she was tired and tired quickly during practices. In hindsight, her father thinks we shouldn't have let her go to camp, but I was not about to take that opportunity away from her.
While we were getting ready on Saturday morning, I asked Z what event she wanted to start on and she said beam. I figured it was because it is her weakest event and she wanted to get it out of the way. Well, she got her wish--beam was up first. Her warm up looked good and so did her routine. We were more than excited when her score flashed as a 9.425. This is her highest beam score ever--she had only scored a 9 twice before, a 9.100 at level 3 and a 9.000 at level 5 states--so this was a big deal. Although this was the highest score for quite a while, she wound up in 3rd place.
Floor was up next and I did see a few bobbles, but her score was still a 9.300, which is good in my book. This wound up as 5th place.
Vault is normally a no-brainer for Z and she almost always scores over a 9.000. But not this time. Her score was an 8.675, which I was confused about but her coach indicated that he agreed with the score. I'm not going to question him since he is a level 9 judge.
Bars was last--what has become one of her best events. Warm-up looked really good, although she was not really making her monkey swing, so it looked like she was just going to do a squat-on. I watched her start her routine and she looked amazing. After the squat on and jump to high bar, she did her kip and then a really large cast to do her lay-out fly-away dismount. Unfortunately, she went big and completely over-rotated her fly-away and landed on her back. This caused a reduction in her start value, along with the fall and other deductions. She scored an 8.550, but her coach said she had 1.300 in deductions, which means she would have potentially had a 9.850.
Her all-around score was a 35.950, enough for 8th place, with no medals on vault or bars. She was very upset and frustrated at herself, but I was able to remind her that even her "bad" day, gave her an all around score that is in the top half of those she had gotten in the past, and was better than some girls on a "good" day.
We know she has the potential to do really well, she has shown it in the past and I know she will do well this weekend. We have a full week of practice and a private on Wednesday. I'm thinking things will be just fine.
This week was a bit odd because Z had a week-long science camp with her school to attend. As such, she missed three days of practice this week. It would have been four, but I picked her up on Thursday from camp, took her to practice and then back to camp in time for bed. I could tell watching her practice both Thursday and Friday that she was tired and tired quickly during practices. In hindsight, her father thinks we shouldn't have let her go to camp, but I was not about to take that opportunity away from her.
While we were getting ready on Saturday morning, I asked Z what event she wanted to start on and she said beam. I figured it was because it is her weakest event and she wanted to get it out of the way. Well, she got her wish--beam was up first. Her warm up looked good and so did her routine. We were more than excited when her score flashed as a 9.425. This is her highest beam score ever--she had only scored a 9 twice before, a 9.100 at level 3 and a 9.000 at level 5 states--so this was a big deal. Although this was the highest score for quite a while, she wound up in 3rd place.
Floor was up next and I did see a few bobbles, but her score was still a 9.300, which is good in my book. This wound up as 5th place.
Vault is normally a no-brainer for Z and she almost always scores over a 9.000. But not this time. Her score was an 8.675, which I was confused about but her coach indicated that he agreed with the score. I'm not going to question him since he is a level 9 judge.
Bars was last--what has become one of her best events. Warm-up looked really good, although she was not really making her monkey swing, so it looked like she was just going to do a squat-on. I watched her start her routine and she looked amazing. After the squat on and jump to high bar, she did her kip and then a really large cast to do her lay-out fly-away dismount. Unfortunately, she went big and completely over-rotated her fly-away and landed on her back. This caused a reduction in her start value, along with the fall and other deductions. She scored an 8.550, but her coach said she had 1.300 in deductions, which means she would have potentially had a 9.850.
Her all-around score was a 35.950, enough for 8th place, with no medals on vault or bars. She was very upset and frustrated at herself, but I was able to remind her that even her "bad" day, gave her an all around score that is in the top half of those she had gotten in the past, and was better than some girls on a "good" day.
We know she has the potential to do really well, she has shown it in the past and I know she will do well this weekend. We have a full week of practice and a private on Wednesday. I'm thinking things will be just fine.
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